


Sometimes Your Worst Enemy Is Family

by ddh1973



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: F/M, I hated what the writers did to it for shock value and cheap plot twists, I miss the friendship between Ward and Fitz from season one, Will Add More Tags as I Post More Chapters, friendships that were lost because the reveal of Ward as Hydra is maintained in this story, slow burn Skyeward
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-28
Updated: 2020-07-19
Packaged: 2020-09-28 16:33:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 30,403
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20429018
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ddh1973/pseuds/ddh1973
Summary: Begins right before Ward drops the med pod and takes a major turn from that moment on.  Ward not only has to deal with the team and Hydra's rise from inside of Shield but also being pulled back into his family and their drama.  Secrets come out that turn his world upside down.  He will need his friendship with the team to get through it.





	1. Chapter 1

Right as Grant was about to pull the lever that would drop the med pod and get Fitz and Simmons off of the Bus in the the safest way he knew to give them a chance to survive, a flash of light filled the cargo hold. He could hear the gasps of shock coming from the two people in the med pod and found himself standing behind them and his sister standing outside of it, determination in her brown eyes.

“Lou, what the hell are you doing?”

Fitz and Simmons silently watched what was going on as Ward and the tall and slender brunette outside the pod glared at each other.

“Mission's over little brother. It's my turn to deal with John Garrett and Hydra. Besides I think you have some serious explaining to do to FitzSimmons,” Lou stated before turning to look at Fitz.

“I can sense that the flotation device on the pod is damaged and if we had time for you to fix it, I would let you out of there long enough to repair it. I am going to drop the Pod to get the three of you off this plane but I have used a spell to make sure it still floats. Somebody is coming for all three of you to get all of you to safety and hopefully my brother will explain what is going on here.”

“Spell? What the bloody hell are you talking about?”

Simmons stopped her questions as she, Fitz and Grant watched the lever for the Pod move on it's own and Lou turn around to walk away.

As the Pod fell into the water the three occupants of it were tossed around until it settled and floated over the surface of the ocean.

* * *

Ward laid his head against the wall of the Pod and watched as Simmons put Fitz's arm in a sling, both of them glaring at him.

“I highly recommend that you start talking right now, Ward,” Simmons said heatedly.

“Lou is my sister and for the past fifteen years, I have been undercover inside of Hydra under hers and Director Fury's orders. It all started when I set my parents house on fire and was sent to jail for arson and attempted murder because my older brother was in the house at the time. Christian was pushing hard for me to be tried as an adult. While I was there, Garrett showed up and made me an offer to break me out of jail and he would train me to be stronger. What happened after that is when things got even crazier and my real mission began.

Wyoming-1999

_ **Grant and Buddy huddled under the tree as the rain poured down around them, shivering from the chill of the day. He wished he had never agreed to go with John Garrett; going to jail for the rest of his life with three meals a day and a warm bed was better than this bullshit.** _

_ **A flash of light appeared and he quickly stood up to see his older sister Lou standing there, her long brown hair falling to her waist and brown eyes flashing in irritation.** _

“_**Grant Douglas Ward what kind of mess have you gotten yourself involved in now?”**_

_ **The irritation in her eyes turned to raw fury as Grant told her how he ended up in the middle of Wyoming and not in jail back in Massachusetts.** _

“_**I was on my way to get you out of there and take you home with me. I threatened to tell the court and the press everything about the abuse you had suffered at your mother's and Christian's hands to get them to drop the charges and have you placed in my custody. I get there and find out you were gone. It's a good thing my powers can sense where you are at or I would have never found you out here.”**_

_ **She waved her hand and Grant found himself sitting inside a luxurious log cabin, complete with a comfortable couch and two wing back chairs in front of the roaring fire. There was a stairway that went along the wall near the door way to the kitchen that most and likely led to the bedroom.** _

_ **He was sitting in one of the wing back chairs while Lou was in the other petting Buddy, who couldn't get enough attention from her. The dog had seemed to instantly bond with her.** _

“_**I want to know what John Garret is up to so your mission is to stay here and find that out. You and Buddy will have access to this cabin with a spell on it to take care of everything the both of you need to survive and be comfortable out here. John Garrett will never see everything it can do for you. All he will see is that it is nothing but a shelter from the weather. The winters here are worse than what we have seen in Boston, I refuse to let you be out here without a roof over your head. I will come check on you once a week if not more than that if you need me, I can always feel if you need my help.”**_

“_**I won't ask how you know the dog's name already,” Grant stated, rolling his eyes at his sister. “You used your magic to find out.”**_

_ **Lou smiled smugly at her younger brother as a roast beef dinner appeared on the coffee table.** _

“_**Eat something and then go upstairs to get some rest. We will talk about this more in the morning.”**_

“Hold, on. Wait a bloody minute,” Fitz spoke up and interrupted the story Ward was telling him and Jemma, sounding skeptical of what he was hearing. “Are you trying to tell us that your sister is a witch? A spell casting witch? Are you sure she is human?”

“Yes, Fitz,” Ward said, rolling his eyes in irritation. “My sister is a human, she is just the latest in a long line of female family members who were affected by the curse cast on our family during the Salem Witch Trials.”

“Why was your family cursed,” Simmons asked before she could stop herself.

“It seems one of my ancestors, Augustus Ward had set himself up as Judge, Jury and Executioner of every 'witch' in Salem. One night he ordered for two women that had been 'proven' to be witches to be burned at the stake. His biggest mistake wasn't the fact that they weren't witches but that their older sister was. In her anger and heartbreak over the senseless murder of her sisters, she cast the curse on Augustus and his family. His unborn daughter was born a witch and the next generation was born when his son grew up and got married so that the latest witch born would always have the last name Ward.”

“Your family is seriously bloody fucked up, Ward,” Fitz commented under his breath.

“No shit, Fitz.”

“If the two of you have had enough of seeing who can be the most vulgar, finish your story, Ward,” Simmons firmly stated, glaring at both men in the Pod with her.


	2. Chapter 2

Grant finished telling Jemma and Fitz his story and waited quietly for how they would take it. He knew that the two of them were going to be the easiest ones to tell his story to.

Phil Coulson and Melinda May, God help him if she got a hold of him before Lou and Director Fury could explain the entirely of their mission to them, would be the ones most reluctant to believe it.

Then there was Skye, it would take a miracle to regain her trust again. She was the one who had been hurt the most at finding out he had betrayed their team.

“Your sister has also been undercover with Hydra the entire time, all so she can get her hands on John Garrett for his part in what happened to you?”

Grant looked over at Fitz, who was watching him and waiting impatiently for his response to his question.

“There is something else going on that she has never told me about in regards to why Lou is so eager to capture Garrett. Something more than what he did to me. She just refuses to talk about it. I just hope she and May don't come face to face, my sister wants to kick her ass in a real bad way and that has everything to do with me.”

“Because you were sleeping with her,” Fitz said,smirking over at Jemma, who had an identical one on her face.

“Did everybody but Coulson know about me and May,” Ward inquired incredulously.

“Pretty much,” Jemma commented, with a giggle “Why would your sister blame May for that?”

“She seems to think that because I was vulnerable and under the influence of the berserker staff that May took advantage of me,” he said with an eye roll before a huge grin came over his face. “She also was known to kick Christian in the balls on quite a few occasions for things he did to me and Tommy because she has a code about using her powers against her own family. Besides, he would remember the kick to his groin more than her turning him into a toad.”

“Fitz was right, your family is seriously screwed up.”

The three of them continued to talk, waiting on the help Lou promised them would come.

* * *

Lou walked down the corridors of the Bus and into Phil Coulson's office, where John Garrett was waiting for her. It was everything she could do not to reach across the desk and smack that disgusting leer off his face. He seemed delighted in the thought that Grant had joined Fitz and Simmons in a watery grave.

“How did little brother take it when he realized you had betrayed him for me?”

“There wasn't too much for him to say as I sent the Pod with him and the Science twins off the plane and into the water below,” Lou commented as a cold fury came into her eyes. She decided in that moment to use the anger coursing through her veins to her advantage. “Now, you can keep your part of our deal and tell me all about my evil step-bitch. How she got involved with Hydra and why Grant was sent to those woods in Wyoming and not Thomas? Don't give me this loyalty to her nonsense you were spewing a few days ago. You might have been screwing her but you would kill her yourself if it meant you got what you wanted. Start talking or all of the equipment keeping your sorry ass alive will all of sudden start malfunctioning.”

The lights in the room started to flicker and Garrett could feel his body start to weaken. He quickly started to explain everything Lou wanted to know, something about the oldest Ward sibling scared the hell out of him even more than her stepmother ever had and he really didn't want to piss her off. What he failed to realize that he had already done that when he had taken off with her younger brother fifteen years earlier.

* * *

A few hours later, Nick Fury found the med pod and had his team extract Fitz, Jemma and Grant from it. Before the latter could sit down a fist shot out and delivered a hard right hook to his jaw. He spit blood out of his mouth from where he had bit his tongue and ignored the pain before turning to see a furious Victoria Hand standing with her boss.

“Next time you fire an Icer at me and my men without some kind of warning, I am going to kick your ass into the middle of next week,” Hand said coldly.

“Agent Hand, he was following my orders. There was no way to warn you or Agent Coulson about what was going to happen without John Garrett finding out.” Fury stated firmly to his Agent before looking at Ward. “Agent Ward, do you know how long it will take for Eric Koenig to wake up from the spell Lou cast on him to make it look like he was dead.”

“She told me that it would take about twelve hours when she cast it. We are supposed to join up with her at Cybertek. Coulson is going to need all the help he can get to stop what is going on.”

“If he or May doesn't try to kill you first because they think you are a traitor,” Jemma commented. “That will be nothing compared to Skye, you really hurt her and betrayed her trust, Grant.”

Victoria Hand rolled her eyes in irritation before starting to speak.

“As much as I would love to see Ward get his ass kicked by his little hacker crush, we have more important things to think about than that.”

“Agent Hand is right. I will let Coulson know we are heading his way, to give him a heads up on what's going on and not to do anything until I get there,” Fury said before making a call to Phil Coulson.

* * *

Phil Coulson, Melinda May, Trip and Skye all stood around a conference room, listening in shock as John Garrett gloated over what had happened to Fitz, Simmons and to their surprise, Grant Ward and how all three of them had drowned in the med pod that the latter's own sister had dropped into the ocean. How he had thought he was undercover for his sister and Nick Fury, only to find out his own sister was just as bad as their older brother was.

As they hung up with Garrett, Trip had to hold onto a trembling Skye as she thought about the things she had screamed at Grant on the Bus.

“I want his sister to pay for this, Coulson. She killed my friends and her own brother.”

Before Phil could respond, a beep sounded from the communicator. He reached down and answered it, smiling as he listened to the person calling him. He hung up and then turned to face his Agents, continuing to smile as if he knew something they didn't know.

“I have quite a story to tell all of you while we wait for more reinforcements to arrive, then we take out John Garrett and put an end to this, once and for all.”

* * *

Lou was walking past the lab when she saw Raina staring at her from inside the room. The young scientist was too smart for her own good and needed to be dealt with before she caused any problems with Lou's mission.

She stepped inside the door, closed the glass behind her and cast a spell to keep anybody else that would run straight to Garrett from hearing their conversation. She glared at the younger woman harshly and never took her eyes off her, enjoying the unease and discomfort she could sense coming from Raina.

“I know you overheard my conversation with Garrett and if you even try to warn him about what you saw when I dropped that med pod, I will make you sorry you were ever born, Raina,” Lou stated before the other woman could even start her manipulative games with her. “Grant told me all about you and the things you have done. The chaos you have caused. I don't have time to deal with you right now and you will wish you hadn't if you try to test me. I will win and that jail cell Grant freed you from will look like paradise compared to where you end up.”

“You have Garrett fooled into thinking you have turned on your own brother. He is completely unaware of the fact that he is the one actually being tricked by you. After hearing what he told you, I can see why you put your own brother through this mission for you and Shield but how is Grant going to react when he finds out who is responsible for all of this in the first place?”

Lou grinned at Raina, feeling a little bit of respect for the woman's resourcefulness and ability to read people. She would make a good ally but trusting her is a different story, she also knew Raina would turn on anybody if it meant she would achieve her own goals.

“I know some things about you too, Raina. Such as, you know more about Skye's past than you are telling anybody about. In fact, you know where her father is and why Shield considers her an 0-8-4. That is only the beginning of what I know about you and sweet girl, if Skye, my brother or Fitz and Simmons are hurt by your games, your own pain is just beginning.”

Raina ignored the pain she felt growing in her chest as Lou started to walk out of the lab and had to fight to catch her breath, grabbing the counter to keep herself steady on her feet.

“What is so special about the three of them as compared to Phil Coulson and Melinda May?”

“The difference is Phil Coulson and Melinda May are seasoned agents that can more than handle themselves; the younger three agents on that team are more vulnerable to the mind games others like yourself can play on them. They are also very important to Grant.”

“Especially Skye. She isn't as fragile as you seem to think she is.”

“Raina, do you think you are telling me something I don't already know. She will need her team, all of her team, if she is going to get through what is coming. She needs her father. You will help me make sure that reunion happens when she is ready for it.”

“Cal will not like the fact that the stepdaughter of the woman who helped Daniel Whitehall cut his wife to pieces is involved with this.”

“He will quickly find out that me and the rest of the Ward family hate my stepmother with the fire of a thousand suns. Millicent Ward will not get away with all of the pain she has caused. Her karma is coming for her, hers and every member of Hydra who helped her.”

“You're on your own, Garrett because she is too powerful for Hydra to handle.” Raina said to herself as Lou left the room, a devious smile coming across her lovely face.

* * *

Coulson and the remaining members of his team watched as the door to the private hotel suite they had been ordered to go to near Cybertek opened. Nick Fury walked into the room with a stone faced Victoria Hand right behind him as well as Fitz, Simmons and a reluctant Grant Ward following behind them.

Fitz and Simmons both hugged Skye tightly as she embraced her friends before turning to watch as she slapped Grant across the face.

“Just because you were undercover for the Director all along doesn't make things okay between the two of us. I have asked Agent May to be my SO from now on and we might be teammates but anything we could have had together is over. Do you understand me?”

“Understood,” he said with no expression on his face before turning to face Coulson and May. “I will take whatever consequences the two of you deem necessary for the things that I did for the mission but only after we stop Garrett. I also have to stop Lou from doing something she will regret in her quest for revenge. She isn't a killer but has had fifteen years of rage built up against Garrett and my mother for starting this whole thing.”

Everybody but Grant, Jemma, Fitz and Nick Fury stood there in stunned silence as the latter started to tell them about his first meeting with Lou and Grant Ward.

_Level 8 Agent Nick Fury walked into his office at the Triskelion and found a five foot eleven slender brunette standing in his office with a teenage boy; a beautiful chocolate Labrador standing quietly beside the boy._

“_May I help you?”_

“_Agent Fury, my name is Samantha Louisa Ward, daughter of Senator Travis Ward and this is my brother Grant. I need to talk to you about a very important matter that has come to my attention. I have heard you know how to keep a secret and I also know that one day, you will be in a very powerful position that can help me and my brother with this issue.”_

_Nick listened in disbelief as he heard a story about one of his own trainees turning on Shield for an organization he had long thought was dead and gone. What really got his attention was when he found out about how his Agent had kidnapped the son of a US Senator from Juvie and abandoned him in the woods of Wyoming right before cold weather was starting to set with nothing but a dog to keep him company and no shelter or means to take care of himself. He also found it curious that Senator Ward hadn't told the police about his son being missing or pleading on every news channel for his son to be returned to him and his family._

“_Why would your father never say anything about any of this?”_

_Nick was taken aback at the identical looks of fury and disdain that came into the caramel colored eyes of both Ward siblings as Louisa responded to his question._

“_Our father is too broken by the death of my mother and a second marriage that has made his life a living hell that he is too numb to have anything to do with his children. Millicent only cares about Tommy, who isn't a Ward by blood but the son of one of her lovers, spending our family's money and drinking to the point she pickles her liver. I don't even think she really gives a damn about Hydra anymore, she just follows their orders to stay alive.”_

_Nick Fury glanced over at Grant Ward and he could see in the boy's eyes a sadness and anger at his sister's words. What truly got to him was the fact that the boy seemed to know it was also the truth. Then he watched as Lou placed a comforting hand on her brother's shoulder and knew this young woman loved her younger brother very much. She would die to protect him. Her love would probably be his only saving grace._

_He decided in that moment to help them and sat with the siblings to discuss the next step of their mission in order not to be surprised by anything that happened from now on._

“Ward, your family is seriously fucked up dude.” Trip stated bluntly with nods of agreement from every person in the room.

Skye had to fight with her compassionate side that wanted to comfort him with the part of her that was still hurt and angry at him and the lies he had told for the sake of his mission.

Before she could even possibly think about even saying something to Grant, he turned and walked into one of the bedrooms, closing and locking the door behind him.

Fury and Coulson started to go over their plans for their mission while Fitz got up and walked over to the door of the room Ward just walked into.

“Ward, it's Fitz.”

The door unlocked and Fitz walked inside the room, closing the door behind him.

“Let Fitz talk to him, Skye. He knows more than he should about what Ward is going through right now. Unlike Fitz's mother, who was a wonderful and compassionate woman, his father was a nasty and abusive piece of garbage. Thankfully she got him away from Fitz at a young age and he never got to experience the years of abuse Ward did from his family.”

“What all did Ward tell you guys about Lou while you were in the Pod with him?”

“The only thing I will tell you is that I have a way to get her away from Garrett so Director Fury and the others can handle him. I also think I know of a way to keep Ward away from him as well but you will have to temporarily put aside your anger at him for that to happen.”

May, who had been listening to their conversation, spoke up in that moment.

“Why don't you tell the rest of us your ideas, Agent Simmons and we can discuss them?”

“Agent May is right. Let us know what you are thinking and how it could help us,” Fury commented.

Simmons and Skye walked over to where the others were standing and the former started to explain her ideas to them.

“It seems Lou Ward is pissed about the fact that Agent May and Ward were sleeping together and thinks she was taking advantage of him while he was in a vulnerable state,” Simmons explained, with a smirk.

“You and Ward? Isn't he young enough to be your son?”

Fury's incredulous statement had Phil Coulson rolling his eyes, Trip and Hand smirking at each other while May glared at everybody in the room.

“I can't wait to tell Izzy that Melinda May became a Cougar,” Victoria snarkily commented.

“How about we let Agent Simmons tells us her plan and stop talking about who I choose to sleep with because it is not anybody's business but mine and Ward's,” Melinda said, her teeth clenched in anger.

Skye felt jealousy fill her that she had refused to allow Ward to see until her eyes met May's. She refused to let the others see how much it had hurt to think that Ward had walked away from her offer to talk for sex with May. She had a feeling that May hadn't meant her when she had said what she had.

“Agent May, you will have to be ready to fight Lou Ward. Ward wasn't lying when he said she is a witch. Fitz and I watched as she transported Ward into the pod with us and moved the lever without touching it to drop it off the plane. The curse he told us about is real.”

“Agent Simmons is right. Louisa Ward is a very powerful woman, one that would be a dangerous enemy to have. We are very lucky to have her on our side because if she really was Hydra, our mission would be much more difficult than it already is. Her stepmother and Hydra have wanted her dead for a very long time. They almost succeeded when she was a little girl when they sabotaged the car she was riding in with her grandparents and Aunt Lily, Former Senator Travis Ward's sixteen year old sister. Lily Ward died in that crash,” Nick Fury explained. “They also are responsible for the death of Abigail Ward, the younger sister of Noah Ward, Aunt to Travis and Lily Ward. After Grant was taken by John Garrett under the orders of Millicent Ward, that is when Lou stepped in and came to me about what was going on when Grant was fifteen years old and she was twenty four, raising her seven year old twin daughters with the help of her grandparents. She could have left her brother in the woods Garrett had abandoned him in, went on with her life and focused on her own children. She is an amazing woman but with a stubborn strength a mile long and a quickfire temper. She and Maria can't stand each other and it was everything I could do from their last encounter to keep Lou from turning Maria into a toad.”

“So basically, I am going to have to fight her to keep her distracted long enough to keep her away from Garrett so the three of you can get to him,” May commented, glancing at Coulson, Trip and Fury as she did.

“Go and get Agents Ward and Fitz, so we can explain the plan to them.”

May nodded her head in confirmation of the Director's orders and walked over to the room where Ward and Fitz were located.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It is going to be awhile before Skye can truly forgive Ward for the things he did even if in this story, he was undercover. Things will change for a lot of characters in future chapters, including how we meet them.
> 
> I was planning on posting updates every Wednesday and couldn't yesterday so I did it today. I have quite a few chapters on this already written, I just have to edit them. I hope everybody enjoys this chapter especially the friendship between Ward and Fitz.


	3. March of 1980

_ **March, 1980- Boston, Massachusetts** _

_ **Louisa Ward held tightly to her Aunt Lily's hand as they walked out the front door of her Father's home in Boston. They walked towards the shiny black 1980 Cadillac Seville that had been pulled up to the front of the stately manor home.** _

_ **Lou let her Aunt help her into the car before the pretty dark haired and green eyed sixteen year old joined her niece in the back seat. She let her Aunt distract her from the loud argument taking place between her father and grandparents from inside the front door.** _

"_**T**_**ravis, she is your child too! For you to let that upstart bitch you married force you to choose between her and your daughter is downright disgraceful and disgusting!”**

“_**Father...”**_

“_**Christian is a beautiful baby but Lou needs her father too,” Francesca Ward quietly stated to her son. “It isn't right for Lou to live with us because Millicent refuses to raise a child she knew was a part of the package when she married you.”**_

“_**Aunt Lily, why doesn't my daddy want me,” Lou said, her lower lip trembling and tears threatening to fall from her caramel brown eyes.**_

“_**It isn't that he doesn't want you, Lou. In fact, between you and Christian, you are the child he wants but he has to live with a very selfish woman,” Lily gently explained, her fist clenching tightly the only sign of her own anger and irritation at her older brother.**_

“_**How do you know this, Aunt Lily?”**_

“_**You will find out when you are older, Lulu.”**_

“_**Is it the curse I hear you and Aunt Abby talk about?”**_

“_**Lou, you shouldn't be listening to conversations that aren't meant for you.”**_

“_**Aunt Lily, do your powers scare you sometimes?”**_

“_**Yes they do but Aunt Abby is a huge help in controlling them just as I will be here for you when it is your time.”**_

“_**Is that why Milliwitch hates me so much? Is she scared of the powers that I will have?”**_

“_**Yes, Lulu. She has a lot of secrets, some that will come back to haunt her and unless she is stopped, will cause this family a lot more pain than she already has.”**_

_ **The front passenger door opened and Francesca Ward, a tall and stately woman in her early fifties, got in and joined her daughter and granddaughter. Her emerald eyes were filled a mix of sadness and anger before they gentled once she turned to face Lou and Lily.** _

“_**Samantha, you will continue to live me and your grandfather for a little while longer. We need to give your father and stepmother more time with Christian.”**_

“_**Gramzy, you can tell me the truth. I know Millicent doesn't want me,” Lou said softly.**_

_ **Before Francesca could respond, the driver door opened and Noah Ward, a tall man in his early fifties, his dark hair sprinkled liberally with gray. His caramel brown eyes still showed the anger he was feeling towards his daughter-in-law.** _

_ **He smiled softly, despite his lingering anger, at the three females he loved most in this world before starting the car.** _

_ **They had been driving down the road for about ten minutes and were getting ready to get on the highway when a Black Dodge Ramcharger came racing up beside them and rammed into the passenger side of the car, the one with Lily and Francesca.** _

_ **Despite Noah's best efforts to control the car and keep it on the road, the Cadillac skidded into the other lane and down the ravine on the other side of the road.** _

* * *

_ **Lou woke up and glanced around her at a cloud filled area with Lily right beside her, her Aunt's green eyes filled with tears.** _

“_**I am so sorry Lulu, you will have to depend on Aunt Abby to train you properly when you become old enough. I can't be there with you.”**_

“_**Where are we Aunt Lily?”**_

“_**The Powers That Be have made some changes to the timeline because it wasn't just me that originally died in this accident, you and my father didn't make it either. Only Mom was supposed to survive. She needs the both of you and your baby brother will need you.”**_

“_**Why would Christian need me?”**_

“_**Yes, Christian will need you but I am talking about a baby brother that hasn't been born yet.”**_

_ **Images filled Lou's head of Christian growing up, Millicent's neglect and abuse of him and the birth of twins, a boy and a girl. How much abuse and pain the boy, Grant will go through at Christian's and his mother's hands. She sees everything from his birth to his death at the hands of a man named Phil Coulson and how his body is violated by a creature named Hive before his body is destroyed in an explosion along with Hive and a man named Lincoln Campbell.** _

“_**Lulu, it is time for us to say goodbye. I love you so so much.”**_

_ **Lou sobbed heart brokenly in her Aunt's arms before feeling them fade away and waking up to her concerned grandmother's face, tears streaming down her cheeks.** _

“_**Oh Thank the Lord you are awake, my Samantha,” Francesca sobbed out.**_

“_**Grandpa, Aunt Lily,” the little girl softly said.**_

“_**You just rest my sweet girl. Let me go and get your father.”**_

_ **Francesca left the room and Lou listened as she cried outside the door before it opened and her Daddy came in. He walked over to her beside and sat down in the chair her grandmother just vacated and held her hand in his.** _

“_**I thought I had lost you the same way I did your mother.”**_

“_**Daddy, why was Gramzy crying? Where's grandpa and Aunt Lily?”**_

“_**Your grandpa is going to be okay but...”**_

“_**Aunt Lily died and is with the Angels now, isn't she?”**_

_ **Her daddy started sobbing, holding her hand and kissing her forehead, his tears falling on her face.** _

* * *

Present Day- Back on the Bus in Ward's bunk

Lou wiped the tears from her face as she opened her eyes and glanced around her brother's bunk. She hoped he would know how to process the memory she had just sent him using her powers. It was time for him to finally know how the Aunt he had never known had died.

The door to the bunk opened and Raina stepped into the room, taking in Lou's tears and wondered what had caused them.

Lou quickly cast a spell so they couldn't be overheard and then turned to Raina.

“I have a mission for you to prove you want to be a help to my cause and not a hindrance,” Lou commented

“What do you need?”

“Find a way to get me information Hydra might have in their records from any missions that took place in March of 1980.”

“Why do you want information from something that happened thirty four years ago?”

“Somebody tried to kill me and my grandparents that day when they knocked our car off the side of the road about five miles away from my father's home in Boston. My Aunt Lily died that day. I want to know if Hydra had anything to do with that accident and if my step-bitch had any part of it.”

“You are thinking Grant Ward's mother, the mother of a current Untied States Senator and wife of a former one, is a Hydra Agent?”

“Yep and John Garrett has a connection to her. In fact, I'm pretty sure he is the biological father of my brother, Thomas.”

“Why are you trusting me with this information?”

Lou smirked at Raina, who felt fear fill her at what that smirk meant.

“I don't completely trust you, Raina. That is why when I cast a spell on this bunk to keep anybody from overhearing this conversation, I cast one on you as well. If you even attempt to reveal what I have just told you to anybody connected to Hydra, the side effects will be severe.”

“You don't take any chances, do you?”

“Nope, I have been preparing for this since I was six years old. I am too close to the endgame to trust anybody.”

Lou left the bunk as Raina went back to the lab and finished what John Garrett needed her to do. She thought about Cal and knew he was counting on her to help him see his daughter again. Lou Ward was the key to that happening.

She started to run a search for the month and year Lou wanted her to find on a private connection Garret had given her access to, making sure to cover her tracks as she went along.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologize for not posting an update a couple of weeks ago like I originally intended. After a very helpful comment, I came up with this chapter which explains some of Lou's backstory and why she is so focused on taking down Hydra. The next chapter, posted will the one originally written but edited to include events that happened in this one.
> 
> I mentioned Lincoln in this chapter and his future will change too because of the vision Lou was shown as a little girl. As I get further into the chapters I have written, he will make his first appearance.
> 
> The next chapter will also be a big one for fans of the Fitz and Ward friendship.


	4. Chapter 4

Ward wiped away the tears that had fallen down his cheeks as the vision his sister sent to him filled his mind. He was pulled out of it by a knock on the door, sensing it was Fitz. He got up from the chair he had been sitting in and unlocked the door, making sure to put his super agent facade back on before his teammate came into the room.

He had already walked back over to where he had been sitting by the time the door had opened.

After Fitz closed the door to the bedroom, he joined him in the other chair across from the table between them and waited for his friend to speak.

There was still a visible hand print from where Skye had slapped him and Fitz could sense that despite Ward's lack of response to her anger, it was all an act. He also had a feeling that there was something else going on with Ward that he wasn't willing to talk about yet.

“She thinks I knew about Garrett having that bastard Quinn shoot her before it happened. That I was in on the whole thing.” Grant said quietly, deciding to focus on the here and now and not on the vision his sister had shown him. There would be time for that later.

“I can understand her anger, she almost died, Ward,” Fitz commented calmly. He reached over to scratch his shoulder that was in the sling and winced at a twinge of pain in his injured arm. “How much did you know about what he was planning to do?”

“I knew he was going to do something to speed up the process of Coulson trying to find out how he was brought back to life but I didn't know exactly what he was going to do. I would have told him hell no and Lou would have backed me up. Garrett is scared of her and her powers. In fact, she is the only person I have ever seen him truly afraid of,” he said, his voice so quiet that Fitz had to struggle to hear him. “That is why we have got to get her away from Garrett. My sister is not a killer like I am. She has never had to take a life and despite her tough exterior and the things that she has seen since she was a little girl, Lou has a kind and tender heart. She is protective of the people she loves. The only person she really hates is my mother.”

The only person he trusted to talk about the vision Lou had sent him was Nick Fury. He had to talk to him as soon as Garrett had been dealt with. He was the only one that would know how to keep his Grandparents and Father from going after Hydra themselves in revenge for Aunt Lily's death.

“Ward, does Fury know about your mother possibly being Hydra?”

“Yes. Lou took me away from those woods long enough to meet with Director Fury, back when he was a level 8 Agent. We both explained to him what was going on and he helped us with this. He didn't know that Hydra was as deep into Shield as they ended up being and I never really knew either. Garrett kept a lot of stuff from me. He knew that I would tell Lou. That's another reason she is going to really hurt him unless we can get him away from her.”

Melinda May, who had been sent by Fury to get Ward and Fitz to let them know about the plans they had come up with, had been listening from the doorway for the past few minutes.

“Ward, let Skye and this entire situation calm down and after some time has passed, she will give you a chance to tell her what you have told Fitz and Simmons about everything that has happened. Simmons has an idea on how to get your sister away from Garrett; Skye and I are going to need you to help protect Skye from Hydra while I distract your sister. Even if I have to get into a knock down drag out fight with a spell casting witch who thinks I took advantage of her brother, despite him being a grown man who can make his own decisions.” May commented, rolling her eyes and ignoring the grins coming over Fitz and Ward's faces. She looked at the latter. “I still owe you an ass kicking, Ward.”

Fitz started laughing hysterically, ignoring the fact he was being glared at by the two Specialists on his team as the three of them left the bedroom and out into the main room. They all sat down and laid out their plans on how to stop Garrett and Hydra from causing more damage than they already had.

* * *

Lou was standing near Garrett and Mike Petersen or Deathlock as the former was calling him, in one of the main control rooms at Cybertek. She had to fight not to cringe at the damage done to a good man whose own son was among the hostages Hydra had taken.

“Agent Garrett, Shield has arrived and Phil Coulson and Trip are heading this way. The Calvary and Agent Ward's little Candy Crush are coming in from another direction,” a young Hydra agent came into the room to tell his leader about the coming ambush, that their source inside of Shield had warned them about.

“I will handle the Calvary,” Lou stated with a sneer as she disappeared from the room.

The lower level Hydra agent turned pale in fear at the display of magic in front of him as Garrett and Deathlock waited for Coulson and Trip to arrive.

“Agent McEntire, when you are done fighting not to piss in fear on the floor, I suggest you go guard the hostages,” Garrett bit out harshly.

The young agent ran out of the room before his leader did to him what he had done to one of the Generals that Ian Quinn had been trying to get to fund Project Deathlock.

“That little pansy ass is going to be one of the first to die when a real battle starts,” Garrett mutters to himself.

Mike didn't say a word, knowing if he said the wrong thing, his son would die. All he could do was hope that Shield's plan worked and he could personally make John Garrett pay.

* * *

Grant was standing out of sight watching as his sister walked into the room where Skye had a 'bomb' in her backpack, threatening to blow the place up.

“I now see why my brother fell for you, Skye. You're a feisty little thing,” Lou commented with a smile that quickly turned deadly. “Too bad for you, I'm more feisty and stubborn than even you can imagine. Where's Agent May?”

One of the pieces of equipment from the desk flew up and went into Skye's direction, it was less than inch away from hitting her as it slammed into the wall nearby. Skye jumped as the printer flew by her but knew she had to do her part, she couldn't back away from Lou Ward in fear.

“Tell me where the Calvary slut is and I will leave you alone,” Lou said, her voice also had a deadly intent to it. “I owe her an ass whooping from hell.”

“Grant is a grown man who made a choice to follow Garrett's orders and sleep with Agent May,” Skye said harshly, hoping the other woman didn't detect the slight tremble in her voice.

“Garrett will pay for that as soon as I am done kicking Agent May's ass. Now where is she, Skye. I would hate to have to show you a more painful example of what I am capable of. Grant would not be happy with me but if it makes Melinda May come out here and takes the ass whooping she deserves, so be it.”

Before Skye could respond, May came flying out at Lou, who used her magic to knock May to the floor before her kick could even make bodily contact with her. It was only after May stood back up that the fight quickly turned physical with the witch actually giving the Specialist a run for her money and a real challenge.

Skye waited until they were some distance away before running over to where Grant was hiding, grabbing his hand to keep him from getting in the middle of the fight taking place between his sister and Melinda May.

“When were planning on telling us your sister was trained in combat? Come on, I need your help. May will keep her busy so we can end this,” Skye shouted at him before they both left to finish their part of the mission.

* * *

A few minutes had passed of May and Lou were trading blows when all of a sudden the latter started to collapse onto the floor, her appearance changing in front of Melinda from a healthy woman in her mid forties to someone more physically ill. She rushed to the other woman's side, watching as the woman winced in pain.

“I guess my body had enough of what I was putting it through trying to stay strong to complete this and allow my brother to finally live a normal life,” Lou struggled to gasp out as she fought to stay awake. “Get me to Agent Simmons and have her call my oncologist, Dr. Catherine Roberts at Mass Gen in Boston.”

“Oncologist? Why in the hell would you put yourself in the middle of a battle like this if you have been diagnosed with cancer”

“If you want to be technical, I have been diagnosed with stage 2 breast cancer. I am scheduled for a Lumpectomy in a week and then start on chemotherapy and radiation treatments a few weeks later,” Lou explained harshly. “I wanted to finish this so I can focus on getting myself better and let my brother finally live his life the way he should have instead of having to deal with other people's nonsense.”

“Why didn't you tell him you were sick?”

Lou rolled her eyes in irritation before responding sarcastically.

“My baby brother would have got in the way of what needed to be done to end this. He would have told Fury what was going on and they would have tried to stop me from doing what I had to. I was the only one who could keep something from happening that would cause too much pain in the future if it had been allowed to happen,” Lou's voice trembled with emotion as she spoke. “People would have changed for the worse, doing things to strike out in revenge and too many people, whether they deserved it or not, would have been hurt or even died over it.”

May pulled her cellphone out of her pocket and made the calls needed to get Lou out of there and to get her the help she needed.

As they waited for help to arrive, Lou didn't say a word as she turned to face May and touched her arm. A rush of pain so severe it took Melinda's breath away went through the Specialist and she tried to pull away at first until the images flooding her mind made her stop. A gasp of shock came from Melinda as she saw the original timeline and the events of the present and future that Lou was trying to stop from happening.

“I apologize but you and Grant are the only two people who have seen that. I was supposed to die at six years old with my Grandfather and my Aunt Lily. Originally, I never got to meet Grant and be there for him like I was. I couldn't let that happen. Fitz, Simmons, Grant and Skye would have been forever changed because of it. I had to save my baby brother. He had to have someone on his side this time.”

May took a calming breath and let herself recover before speaking, her voice tight with anger.

“I will help you keep that from happening but don't you ever do that to me again without my permission.”

Lou didn't say a word, just closed her eyes to rest for a moment before speaking again.

“I did this to save my brother from committing an act that no matter what his intentions were when he did it, would have been unforgivable for the victims. It also would have caused Leo Fitz a tremendous amount of pain and turned a Jemma Simmons into a murderer, despite all of the bullshit reasons she would have come up with to excuse her actions. I couldn't let that happen.”

Melinda thought about the little girl that died in Bahrain and shuddered at her own guilt over what had happened.

“How powerful are you, Lou?”

“Call me Samantha or Sam, that's my first name. Nobody but my grandparents and father call me that, Christian tried it once and he paid for it with a kick to the balls.”

“Why are you allowing me to call you that?”

“What made you decide to take me on in a fight? I could have cast a spell at any time that would have stopped you before you could throw the first punch.”

“Grant wanted you away from John Garrett and somebody had to distract you long enough to do that.”

“You have a good heart, Melinda May. I get keeping your emotions locked down especially after what happened in Bahrain. You care about your team, my brother included, the moment you found out he was undercover, you forgave him in your heart,” Lou said before smiling mischievously. “I really wasn't angry over you and Grant's little hookup. My brother is a grown man, now when I get a hold of that bitch, Lorelei, there will be hell to pay. She raped my brother. That she will have to pay for.”

“Coulson wanted him to talk to Andrew about what happened with Lorelei but Ward refused.”

“It's a Ward family trait to hold stuff in and not talk about it. I also have a feeling he wasn't too keen on the idea of talking about all that had happened with your ex-husband," Lou commented. “You care about my brother but you and I both know who his future is with. To answer your question, I have trusted you with a secret and only someone who has earned my trust is allowed to call me by my first name.”

Before May could respond, a medical team rushed into the room and over to where the two of them were sitting.

* * *

After the battle was over and Garrett had been dealt with and his body being loaded onto the Bus, Ward watched as his body was carried into the cargo bay of the Bus. He felt none of the pain he had expected to. His main concern was for how Lou was doing. She had been there for him from the moment she had appeared to him in the woods where Garrett had abandoned him.

“Ward, you are needed in the other Med Pod. It's your sister,” Victoria said, her voice uncharacteristically gentle in it's tone.

He rushed out of the bay and found Simmons and Fitz by Lou's bedside as she laid on the gurney, attached to an IV and looking like death warmed over.

“Lou?”

“Grant, sit down. There is something I need to tell you,” his sister stated, holding her hand out to him. He took her hand and sat down in the chair that was bedside the gurney. Grant had a strong feeling that he wasn't going to like what she had to say to him.

Fitz and Simmons left the pod and watched from the outside with Skye and May standing behind them as the Specialist broke down as his sister told him what was wrong with her.

“Does Coulson know what is going on,” Simmons asked Agent May.

“Yes, I am to fly the Bus to Boston to transport Lou to Mass Gen so she can be admitted and start being treated for cancer.”

Skye watched with tears in her eyes, both sides of her once again battling each other for control. Her heart wanted to reach out to Grant and help him while her head that still held onto so much anger and resentment wanted to walk away to let him suffer.

“Skye come with me to get the Bus ready for takeoff. I need to talk to you. Fitz, help Simmons keep Lou stable and communicate with me any changes to her condition.”

May lead Skye away from the Med Pod while Fitz and Simmons went back into the Pod to keep both Ward siblings calm.

Skye sat down in the co-pilot's chair and watched as May prepared the flight for take off, waiting for her new SO to say what she needed to.

“Skye, Ward didn't know that Garrett was going to have you shot. He only knew that Garrett was going to do something to move things along quicker but not about you being shot,” May gently explained to the young agent.

“How do you know,” Skye asked, staring at the floor instead of at May.

“I overheard him telling Fitz about what you said to him and at first I advised him to let you calm down before trying to explain that to you but he is going to need all of us as his sister fights for her life. She put this on hold longer than she should have to get closure for both of them and it might be too late to save her life, Skye.”

“I am still so angry at him, he lied to all of us.”

“Yes he did and I'm not saying jump into his arms and profess your love for him or anything like that. Just show some compassion to him as his sister fights for her life. Be the better person, Skye. The kind and compassionate young woman you started out as. Don't let this change you.”

“You have just as much right as I do to be angry with him.”

“Agreed but I see the love Lou has for Grant and could understand her anger at anybody she felt was taking advantage of him. It couldn't have been easy for her to leave him in those woods where Garrett had left him instead of taking him far away from there to live his life in peace. Besides he will have to deal with the rest of his family and from what Lou told me when we were waiting for the medics to get to her, his mother is a real nasty piece of work that can cause some serious drama and she won't be at full strength to stop her from doing it.”

Skye thought back to everything Ward had told her about his older brother and knew she needed to talk to Lou herself and get her point of view. She had lost any trust or faith she had ever had in Grant Ward and taking him at his word.

“Somebody from Shield needs to stay behind with Ward and his sister to make sure he doesn't do anything to his family, particularly his parents or his brother,” May said, breaking through Skye's thoughts. “I have talked to Coulson and we think you, Fitz and Simmons need to go with Ward and Lou to Boston. Simmons has been consulting with Lou's oncologist, Fitz seems to have maintained his friendship with Ward and might have a chance of keeping him calm. I want you to observe the rest of the Ward Family, especially his mother and see how she treats her children when she thinks no one is looking. Don't allow her to see any kind of conversation between you and Ward. Lou said she will use anything to his advantage if it means he can manipulate them or play with their emotions.”

“I still don't think it is a good idea for Skye to be anywhere around the Wards and their drama,” Coulson said from the doorway.

“Excuse us, Skye. I need to talk to Phil for a minute. Can you go check on Lou and give me a report on how she is doing?”

Skye got up and left before she could hear what was going to be a heated conversation between her SO and Shield's new Director. She was in the lounge and heading towards the stairs when Victoria Hand walked up to her.

“Eric Koenig finally woke up from the spell cast on him by Ward's sister. He had quite a story to tell his brothers and Fury when he did. It seems Ward told him about being undercover and that they had to make it look like Ward had killed him to make sure John Garrett didn't suspect anything. He then said something about a woman appearing in the room and the next thing he knew he was waking up in the med bay at our new base,” she commented as she walked up to Skye.

“When did you realize Ward had shot you with an Icer?”

“When I woke up and Fury told me everything that was happening. He introduced me to Lou Ward before she left using her magic to get to her brother and FitzSimmons on the Bus. It seems she sensed something was wrong with the flotation device on that med pod and that Ward's plans to get them safely off the plane was going to fail because of it. Fury is having the Pod pulled up from the water to find out what caused the damage to the flotation device because Maria Hill is pitching a fit and wants Ward in jail. It seems she didn't like Lou calling her Fury's lapdog in response to Maria calling Ward Garrett's,” Victoria said with a smirk.

“People don't like it when they are called out on their hypocritical behavior,” Skye quietly said. “If his sister wasn't so sick right now, I would agree with Maria Hill but after seeing just a small taste of what Lou can do, I wouldn't want to be the Agent that tries to arrest him.”

“I wonder what she said to May to make her Team Ward when she has every right to be angry at him.”

Skye walked away and down the steps without saying a word to Victoria, unable to come with a reason why May had changed her opinion on Grant Ward. She went towards the Med Pod and heard the song Singing In The Rain playing and stopped short as she got in the doorway.

Someone, most and likely Fitz, had sat a flat screen TV on a table where Lou could see it, and while Ward slept with his head lying on his sister's gurney. Lou, Fitz and Simmons were all watching the movie Singing In The Rain. It was at the part where Gene Kelly was singing and dancing in what appeared to be heavy rainstorm on a busy street and all three of them were engrossed in it.

“May I join you?”

“Sure,” Lou said, motioning to a chair beside Simmons. “It is getting to the good part.”

Skye sat down and watched the movie with her two friends, glancing every so often at Ward as he slept, for the first time seeing him let himself relax and not on alert like he usually was.

“He knows that Garrett is dead and his mother can't touch him anymore,” Lou quietly commented.

“Why is he still so scared of his mother?”

Lou looked over at Fitz, who had asked the question, tears filling her eyes.

“It seems Millie and Garrett were sleeping together. Everything Garrett did to Grant to try to break him was under her orders,” Lou explained. “If the three of you are the ones sent to keep an eye on things with our family and report back to Coulson, be careful of my step-bitch. She will think that just because I am going through cancer treatments that I will be weak and if she figures out that the three of you are a weakness of Grant's, Millicent will not hesitate in using it against him. I wish they would send another agent with the three of you as backup.”

“Wish granted,” a voice said from the doorway.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have decided to go a different route with Melinda May in this story. She has a softer side to her and with the vision Lou showed her has a different perspective to everything that happened to Ward. I wanted to develop a friendship with her and Lou, who will have an antagonistic relationship with a character that was hinted in this chapter but hasn't been seen yet.
> 
> I'm trying to decide if I want to introduce the Avengers in this story or not. Haven't made up my mind yet.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There are moments of Fitz/Ward and Skye/Jemma friendship in this chapter that I really liked as I was writing and editing this chapter.

Melinda May stood in the doorway of the med pod, taking in the classic movie playing on the TV screen before starting to speak again.

“Coulson wants me to go with all of you as the Agent in charge, the three of you aren't ready to run your own op. This mission is too personal for Agent Ward and until he proves himself again as truly loyal to Shield, he isn't to lead any missions. Any issues with Senator Ward or his mother will be dealt with by me.”

“Watch out for their mind games,” Grant said quietly as he slowly started to wake up. “Christian learned how to play from our Mother and he is an angel compared to her.

“You can set up a command post at Gramsy's house in Salem. It is forty minutes to the north of Boston and Millicent had to find out the hard way not to start her nonsense there. Let's just say, it was the one time I have ever been allowed to use my powers against her and leave it at that. There is plenty of room in the East Wing for the four of you. Grant and I will be in the West Wing where the family's bedrooms are located when I am released from the hospital,” Lou commented before turning to watch the movie again.

“Just how big is your grandparents home,” Fitz asked Ward, who looked as if being back among his family was the last thing he wanted.

“It is a three story brick mansion on ten acres of land a mile to the north of Salem. It has eight bedrooms in each wing with four a piece on the top two floors of both wings. The bottom floor consists of the kitchen, the formal living room, dining room and ballroom, in the east wing and the library, office, family room and game room in the west wing,” Ward answered Fitz's question as he watched Gene Kelly and Cyd Charisse dance on the screen together.

“What other buildings are on the property?”

“There is a stable a mile from the house, some housing on three acres of the property where the people who clean and take care of the house and property live with their families.” Lou said to May, also watching the dance sequence taking place on the screen. “There is a swimming pool and a pool house to go along with it and a barn a half mile between the house and stables that was from where we used to have a farm out there.”

“Ward, you are in charge of security, get me a threat assessment as soon as Sam is settled in the hospital,” May commented. She smirked at the shock that appeared in Grant's eyes. She had fight not to laugh as he quickly jumped from where he was sitting and went towards Fitz, Simmons and Skye in a protective manner.

Lou burst out laughing at her brother's response to May calling her by her first name. Although it was a good thing to see him being protective of his younger team members.

“Grant, she can call me by my first name. She earned it,” Lou stated a huge grin appearing on her face.

“First name?”

Lou turned to Jemma, still smiling.

“My full name is Samantha Louisa Ward. I was named after my mother and I hate my first name with a passion. It is only after someone earns my trust completely that they are allowed to call me by it instead of the shortened version of my middle name.”

“Father calls you by your full first name,” Ward said, sitting back down in his chair.

“Father and our grandparents are different than everybody else. He also had his reasons for how he acted that I am now aware of Grant. He will be the easiest to deal with of the three of them but you have every right to be angry at him, he did nothing to stop your mom and her minds games with both you and Christian. I'm not saying trust Christian, he was a manipulative little creep to you and Thomas but your mom played a huge role in how he acted.”

“I haven't talked about this with you since I was fifteen years old and I'm not planning on having this conversation with you any time soon.” Ward said harshly, standing back up and walked towards the door of the med pod. “Do I have permission to go back to my bunk or is that off limits to me now?”

“Fitz, go with him,” May ordered the engineer quietly.

The four women in the room watched as Ward and Fitz left, the latter talking quietly to his teammate as they went.

“This isn't going to be easy for him or the rest of you and I apologize for that. I know things have happened to break the trust all of you had in him,” Lou stated. “He didn't know Garrett was going to have Ian Quinn shoot you, Skye. I didn't even know about it until after the fact or I would have warned Grant about what was happening. It took everything I could to calm him down after it happened. He wanted to kill Garrett, in fact he came pretty close to leaving him down in that base that blew up but we had to find Ace and end John's control over Mike.”

* * *

Skye quietly left the med pod without saying a word and walked by Ward's quarter's, listening as he and Fitz talked.

“I wish it was any other agents beside you, Jemma and Skye being sent with me and Lou. I'm afraid that the second my mother figures out that the three of you are important to me, she will use all of you as a weapon against me. Although there is a part of me that wants to see May bust him one good time upside hers or Christian's heads if they try any mind games on her,” Ward said, a huge grin coming across his handsome face at the thought of his older brother and mother pissing off the Calvary.

Fitz thought about his own childhood and how abusive his father had been before his mother had kicked him out. Would his life has been as full of turmoil and abuse as Grant's had been? Would he have turned out the same way he was now despite his father's abuse or would he have had a similar experience to his friend and teammate?

“Fitz, are you okay?”

“Did your dad abuse you in the same way your mother and older brother did or was it the fact that he did nothing to stop it that has caused you to be angry with him?”

“My father, despite being physically there with his wife and children, was an absent parent for the most part. The only one who could get any kind of affection from him was Lou and that was only because she was the child of the woman he loved more than his own life. Despite being married to each other and having four children, although Lou has serious doubts about Thomas being a biological Ward, my parents hated each other. The only reason they got married was because my maternal grandparents manipulated my paternal grandfather and my dad into thinking my mother would be the perfect wife for him to help raise Lou. Gramsy was against their marriage from the start but grandfather and father wouldn't listen to her. It wasn't long after the wedding they regretted it but by then it was too late and the damage was done, Mother was pregnant with Christian.”

“How long after the wedding was Christian born?”

“Ten months. Lou and Gramsy doubted he was father's child for a long time but it was only after Rose was diagnosed with Leukemia and needed a bone marrow transplant, that they discovered the truth. It was discovered that Lou, Rose, Christian and myself all had the same rare tissue type that made all of us a match for each other. It was rare for it to happen like that because most of the time a family member being a match happens less than often than you think it would.”

“Which one of you donated bone marrow to Rose?”

“I did. Lou was pregnant with her oldest daughter and Christian refused to donate his. That was the incident that caused Lou to kick him in the balls.”

Unable to hear anymore words that only threw her world out of focus and made her torn in what to do, Skye walked down to her bunk and laid down to get some rest while she had a chance to. Everything that had happened that day and in the weeks since Hydra had came out of the shadows went through her mind and it exhausted her just to think about it.

Her emotions about Grant Ward had flipped to so many different types in such a small amount of time: confusion more than anything was the one winning at that moment. She had gone from kissing him twice and giving in to an attraction that had been growing from the beginning, despite their many battles through it all, to hating his guts after finding out he was Hydra to being unsure how to feel after finding out he been undercover for Director Fury and still on Shield's side. All she knew was that it would be a long time before she could ever trust him again even knowing that he had never betrayed them.

A knock on the open door of her bunk pulled Skye back to reality and Jemma was standing there, quietly watching her friend before stepping inside and closing the door behind her.

“I was so angry at him even after Lou had used her magic to put him inside the pod with us. It was only after he explained what had really happened to him that I started to understand and forgive,” the biochemist quietly said as she sat down next Skye on the bunk. “Fitz proved to me that once again he is the best of all of us. He saw something that the rest of us refused to see or knowing his own history with his own father, a kindred spirit in the fact that not all of us get great parents who are there for us. Luckily for Fitz, he had a mother that more than made up for his father. If Lou is to be believed, their father was too weak to stand up to his wife and defend his children and Ward's mother cared to much about getting drunk, spending the family's money, her social connections and her own ties to Hydra to give a damn about anybody but herself.”

“What if Lou hadn't of showed up when she did and Ward had dropped the med pod, only for it to sink?”

“If Fitz had been hurt because of it, I wouldn't have forgiven Ward and would have wanted to kill him.. The part that terrifies me is that I don't think I would have felt any remorse if anybody else had gotten hurt in the process. Even if it had ever come out that Ward hadn't meant for us to be hurt and really just wanted to get out off that plane the best way he knew how.”

“I wanted to kill him when I thought he had betrayed us, Simmons.”

Simmons hugged Skye tightly to her before they went over and sat on the bunk, changing the subject to something else beside the drama that had taken place the past few days.

* * *

Phil Coulson stood outside of the med pod and listened to May and Lou talk quietly. It was time he found out exactly what was going on. What had Grant Ward's older sister said and done to change his second in command's mind about their Specialist? What did Melinda know that the rest of them didn't?

“We only stopped that one possible future from happening, Melinda.”

“At least Fitz wasn't hurt as badly like what happened in the vision you showed me. We managed to stop that from happening and the pain and heartbreak it caused him and Simmons.”

“We don't know that we completely stopped it. Something could happen to cause them heartbreak but only in a different way,” Lou stated. “I think The Powers That Be only allowed me to change Grant's part in what happened and nothing else. I think they are already making me pay for the changes I have made from all the way back to when Garrett abandoned Grant in those woods. Breast Cancer isn't in my family history; I don't drink, do drugs, or smoke. I don't indulge in too much junk food and I try to take care of myself.”

Coulson finally stepped into the room, glaring at both women as Lou smiled at him knowingly.

“I wondered how long you would skulk out there listening to our conversation, Phil”

“One of you had better explain to me just what in the hell is going on here. Right now.”

May and Lou glanced at each other before turning to face Phil, realizing it was time to bring him in on Lou's vision and what could have happened.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It is time for Coulson to realize what Lou being there for Grant since he was kidnapped by Garrett stopped from happening and just how worse things could have gotten. 
> 
> In this story, Ward was in the med pod with Fitz and Jemma and it didn't sink. It is very AU and takes place starting in the previous chapter between season 1 and 2 but with Ward still with the team.
> 
> It will also be a slow process to SkyeWard because despite the fact he wasn't really betraying them, at least in this story, things were said and done by both of them that won't be easy to forget. Despite efforts by others in the story to get them together. The biggest roadblock will be Skye and Ward and their own issues with each other. Her own issues with her parents will start to come into play as the story goes on as well.
> 
> I also moderate my comments and I will not post any with any type of hateful and bullying behavior towards me or others that like the character of Grant Ward. I don't mind constructive criticism which has been very helpful to me so far as I write this story because it helps me improve the story and my writing. Being hateful just to be hateful is another thing entirely.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the last chapter before we introduce more members of the Ward family. There is finally a conversation between Skye and Lou in this chapter and a mischievous moment for Skye that felt like something she would have said in Season 1. There is also a brief Skyeward moment but it feels like it will still be a slow burn for them.

“What is going on here? What is this about a vision she showed you, Mel?”

Lou and Melinda watched as Phil glared at them and both could see how irritated he was at being kept in the dark. It was time he knew what was going on, to find out his part in a future that would now never happen.

“As someone who has seen magic and powerful beings, someone who was also saved by otherworldly measures, you need to trust that except for the part of this that takes place in the past, what I am about to show you will not happen anymore. The Grant that is here now isn't that person anymore but what could have happened if I hadn't of stepped in with my brother when I did. You will see who the true monsters were and which ones are still apart of his life. Don't hold it against the Grant that is with you now. The man he became in that vision didn't and won't happen if we handle this the right way.”

Lou held out her hand to him and watched him as he reluctantly took it and flinched as the vision played through his mind. His eyes were filled with tears as he got to the final heartbreaking part and that he had killed the Grant Ward of that timeline and everything Hive did because of it. The thought that he would be pushed to that point of taking a life for revenge scared him despite understanding the circumstances that had pushed that version of him to that point.

“Grant is on a new journey than the vision I just showed, one that if he decides to leave Shield and move on to something else that he chose for himself or if he wants to stay and take out Hydra; his present and future now belong to him for the first time in his life. His mother doesn't know it yet but her days of using my family's standing and money are just about over.”

“How strong are her ties to Hydra?”

“She was pulling John Garrett's strings and set the whole thing up. Only it wasn't Grant that was supposed to be given over to Hydra to be trained as John Garrett's whipping boy,” Lou explained, her teeth clenched together in anger.

Coulson and Melinda listened and didn't say a word as they took in the story that Lou was telling them. That a mother would be so selfish that her own children were pawns in her sadistic games made them both want to throw up.

* * *

Later that night as the Bus made its way towards Boston and the private airfield located on the Ward's family farm in Salem, Skye walked into the med pod to find Lou still awake. She was watching Top Hat and singing along to Fred Astaire as he sang Cheek to Cheek to Ginger Rogers and smiling.

“You must really love old musicals. First Singin in The Rain and now Top Hat,” Skye commented, smiling softly as memories of one her foster mothers loving old musicals washed over her. They would watch them together until the always inevitable moment when she was taken back to the orphanage.

“I would watch them with my grandparents and watch them dance together. Grant, Thomas and Rose would join us when they came to visit but most of the time, it was just me and my grandparents,” Lou said, a touch of sadness in her voice.

“You didn't live in the same house as Grant?”

“No. My step-monster refused to raise another woman's child and my weak-minded father let her get away with it so he wouldn't have to deal with her. The fact that he was more of a father to me than he was to his children with Millicent despite living with them and not me, his firstborn says something.”

“Why would he neglect them that way?”

“I was all he had left of my mother; the true love of his life.”

“What about Christian? Grant told us your dad spent a lot of time with him.”

“Yes, he did but it wasn't about being a father to him but grooming him for his future career in politics. He was to carry on the family name and be the first member of the Ward family to become President of the United States.”

“So there wasn't any love or affection shown to their children at all?”

“Not really. Thomas was Millicent's favorite and I have my theories as to why. The only time Grant knew any peace was when he stayed with me and our Grandparents and that was only on his summer vacations and other breaks from school. Even then Christian tried his best to make his and Thomas' lives a living hell.”

“I overheard Ward telling Fitz about how you kicked Christian in the balls for him refusing to donate his bone marrow to save Rose.”

A mischievous smile appeared quickly before laughter took over. Skye gave her a few moments to regain her composure.

“I either kicked him in the balls or hit him with something in that region so many times that it was a miracle he could have ever conceived his two children with his wife,” Lou commented, smirking as she thought about those times. “In fact, it was a Louisville slugger that I hit him with when I found out about his part in the well incident.”

“Who pushed Thomas into the well? When Grant touched the Berserker staff, that memory seemed to be the one that haunted him.”

Lou felt anger fill her as memories of that day swept through her mind and that she'd had to get pretty violent with her younger brother to get a confession out of him. Even if it hadn't done a thing to change Millicent blaming Grant for what happened to her precious Thomas that day. It was one of the few times, she had attempted physical violence on Grant and the only time, Lou had used her powers on her wicked stepmother. It had taken a combination of Grant, Rose, Thomas and even Christian's tearful pleas, and reminders from her Father and Grandparents that she wasn't a killer to stop her from killing the bane of their existence. Only if it was to keep her from spending the rest of her life in jail for murder.

“Grant did but Christian had terrorized him to the point that it was either him or Thomas. In Christian's mind, one of our younger brothers was going to end up in that well and he wouldn't have to deal with one of them anymore. Rose told me everything she had seen and heard that day. She was a witness to a lot of the bullying but couldn't do anything to stop it. She hates Christian with a passion but stays quiet so she won't have to deal with his nonsense. Besides, she is a fifth degree black belt, he knows she will kick his ass. I made sure both she and Thomas could take him on in a physical fight by the time they were adults. He leaves them alone now.”

“I want to forgive him now that I know about what happened but I just can't right now.”

“Nobody is saying you have to, Skye. He did some pretty awful things to sell his cover. I have never been shot by one of those Icers but after a conversation I just had with Victoria Hand, she was right to punch him the next time she saw him. I tried to make sure that Eric Koenig would just sleep through the entire situation and only look dead when you found him but he ended up spraining his wrist. He isn't happy with me but everything had to look real or Garrett would have seen through everything. The only person who suspected was Raina.”

Skye shot up in her chair, fear and alarm growing in her dark eyes.

“That selfish bitch could expose the both of you to Hydra if the price is right!”

“Calm down, Skye,” Lou said in a soothing and gentle tone of voice. “Raina isn't going to say a word because she knows what I am capable of if I ever used my powers the right way. I made sure of that.”

“How powerful are you,” Skye asked, a sense of fear at what Ward's sister was truly capable of filling her.

“If I had truly been the evil, traitor that was really a Hydra agent, Shield would never win this war. If I hadn't been raised by a wonderful grandmother and loving grandfather, who taught me right from wrong and how to have respect for other people, that my powers were a responsibility and not to be used for my own personal gain; my step-monster would have been eliminated in the most painful way I could think of a very long time ago. I wouldn't have my brothers and baby sister right now and the four of them, despite Christian being a manipulative creep, and my three nephews along with my two daughters, my father and my grandparents are my world.”

“So Grant has nieces and nephews,” Skye asked, a smile fighting not to come across her face at the thought of her former SO actually dealing with children.

“Yes. Along with my Arianna and Allison, Christian and his wife Anna have two sons, Jason and Jordan. Rose and her husband, Lincoln have a son named Noah, who was named after our grandfather. I love them as if they were my own and Christian doesn't play the mind games with his sons that his mother did with him, he knows I would bust him for it,” Lou then reached over and placed a gentle hand on Skye's shoulder. “Be careful around Grant's mother. She will see that there is something there with the two of you. She will try to cause more trouble between you than there already is. Grant might be the son she didn't want but Millicent Ward is a racist and will not like the thought of her son being in love with someone that isn't a proper fit for him.”

“Meaning a white woman from a proper society family and not a mixed race orphan like I am?”

Lou and Skye both rolled their eyes at the latter's question before grinning at each other.

“She will hate you on sight. The only way she would back off would be if Thomas brought home someone that in her mind is as equally unworthy of being a Ward. That gives me an idea. Hand me my cellphone.”

Skye reached over to where Lou's phone was sitting and handed it too her. The devious grin that came over her pretty face scared Skye all the way down to her bones.

“Nick, I need a favor from you. Is Agent 33 available to help out on this mission?”

Skye glanced over and saw Melinda May standing in the doorway, the normally stoic agent confused about what is going on at that moment.

“Why is she calling in another agent?”

Lou hung up the phone and handed it back to Skye, who put it back where she got it, and turned to face Melinda, the expression on her face never changing.

“What is going on, Sam? Why are you bringing another agent onto this mission?”

“Just making sure that Millicent the Racist is properly distracted enough to leave Grant alone while also having a more experienced agent on this mission besides Grant to help out. It seems Thomas and Grant share the same type of woman that they are attracted to and Kara Palamas will drive my step-monster and baby brother crazy.”

“Then I guess Ward's Mom should never know about him and May's little 'teammates with benefits' deal,” Skye commented, smiling mischievously at May.

“Shouldn't you be getting some sleep, Skye? We will be landing in Salem at seven in the morning Eastern time,” May commented dryly.

“Yes ma'am,” Skye said still smirking, getting up from the chair and leaving the room, fighting not to laugh as she went by her new SO.

“I ought to make your brother remain her SO just to spite them both.”

Lou laughed at her new friend's comment before speaking again.

“I don't think that is a good idea. Being too close to Skye will distract Grant when he needs to be at the top of his game to deal with his mother and Christian.”

* * *

Ward was walking through the corridors of the Bus and down the stairs to see a body bag lying in the cargo hold. He had a feeling it was John's body and waited for the pang of regret he should be feeling in that moment.

All of a sudden, the bag opened and John rose up out of it, ready to do battle again when a blast came from out of nowhere and blew him to pieces. Ward started at the sight of Coulson holding one of Fitz's weapons.

“Now the son of a bitch will stay dead!”

Ward silently watched as a few agents on the plane cleaned up the mess before turning to see Skye standing by his shoulder, watching what was happening.

“I'm not ready to completely trust you again, Grant. I doubt we could ever get back to what was happening with us before Hydra came out of the shadows but for this mission and our team, we need to get along with each other.”

“Agreed,” he said quietly, wishing he'd never had to betray her trust in him to sell his cover. “I need your help to keep my mother away from Fitz and Simmons, it isn't just you that she will play mind games with. She might even try it with Melinda May to see what happens.”

“I think your sister has everything under control,” Skye said, grinning as she told Grant what Lou had planned for his mother.

“I have a feeling Mother is going to wish she had never pissed off a witch by the time this is over,”

They walked towards their bunks to get some sleep before they landed in Massachusetts and had to deal with Ward family drama and other issues in regards to Shield rebuilding and stopping Hydra.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am considering writing a flashback to the well incident that Lou remembered in this chapter to give it some more context, to show not tell it from her point of view.


	7. Chapter 7

The plane had just landed in Salem and Jemma, with Fitz and Trip helping her, was making sure Lou was ready: that her IV still working properly and she was covered by enough blankets to keep her warm. She was being transported to the helicopter that would take her to Mass Gen.

Ward was standing nearby, wearing one of his long-sleeved Henley's to deal with the cool spring temperatures of his home state. A sense of dread filled him at the thought of seeing his father but for his sister sake, he would face the one person who could have stopped a lot of the abuse from happening and didn't.

“Are you going to be okay dealing with your mother and Christian at the hospital?”

Grant turned to face Skye, who had walked up to him. He could see she was unsure how to respond to him and the tension between them was his fault. He knew it would take time to hopefully fix things and he had to be patient but it made him sick to think how badly he had hurt her.

“I talked to Rose last night. Mother isn't allowed there and Christian has been warned by Rose and Gram what will happen if he acts like an idiot. The one that I am unsure of how he will act is Father. Lou has always been his favorite and he could blame me for being the reason she didn't let the doctors perform surgery to remove the tumor and start chemo and radiation the moment she was diagnosed.”

“Let me deal with Father,” Lou stated as she was pushed on the gurney towards the cargo bay of the Bus.

Coulson walked over towards them, irritation flashing in his eyes as he stopped beside the gurney.

“Your father is in the cargo bay, Ward. He wants to talk to you. The paramedics are with him to transport your sister to the chopper.”

“Thank you, Phil,” Lou said quietly.

They made it into the cargo bay to find an older gentleman in his mid sixties waiting impatiently. He was an older version of his son, the only difference being his thick hair was gray instead of black and he was carrying a cane.

With him was a dark haired young woman around the same age as Ward and an elderly woman with white hair pulled up in an elegant style and vivid green eyes, also holding onto a cane.

Before Grant could rush over to his beloved Grandmother, he saw her turn to glare at his father. It was the type of expression that had the young woman, Grant and Lou staying quiet, not wanting to say anything that would cause them to earn that look from their grandmother.

“Travis Daniel Ward, you will act like you have the good sense the Good Lord has given you or your children and these Shield Agents will see me put you over my knee and spank you,” the tiny woman said firmly. “Don't think for one minute I can't do it or I will prove you wrong right now.”

Grant glanced around at his team and saw Nick Fury, Coulson, Fitz and Trip fighting not to laugh as Lou grinned widely. Victoria Hand and Jemma was trying to maintain their composure and not be as obvious as the other two but appeared to be losing that battle while Skye giggled before stepping up beside Melinda May. She was the only one not showing any response to his grandmother's words.

“Grant!”

He quickly had to maintain his balance as the young woman with his grandmother and father threw herself into his arms. The front of his shirt was already damp from her tears as his sister clung to him tightly as if she didn't want to let him go.

“Rosie, he's not going anywhere,” Lou said gently. “He's back with us again, where he belongs.”

Rose pulled away from her brother and quickly made her way to her sister's side, worry and anger fighting for which side Lou would see from her.

“Why didn't you tell anybody that you had been diagnosed with Breast Cancer?”

“You know why, Rose.”

Rose hugged her older sister tightly before pulling away.

“I have your Oncologist on standby to examine you and your room will be ready for you by the time we get to Mass Gen,” Rose stated before turning to Simmons, holding out her hand. “You must be Dr. Jemma Simmons. I'm Dr. Rose Campbell...”

“You were a Ward first, young lady,” her father declared.

“I'm a trauma surgeon at Mass Gen. Do you have the results of my sister's blood work ready,” Rose asked Jemma, as if her father hadn't of interrupted her.

“Of course.”

Simmons handed Rose everything in a file folder the hospital would need to continue her treatments.

“Thank you.”

They pushed the gurney over to where Travis Ward and his mother were standing, the former hugging his daughter tightly before her grandmother did the same and kissed her on the cheek.

“We will talk at the hospital, my angel,” Gramzy quietly said.

Lou hugged her grandmother one last time before the paramedics took the gurney off of the Bus. Rose went with them, placing her sister's file in her briefcase.

Gramzy stared at Grant for a few moments, tears filling her emerald eyes before she pulled him into an embrace, holding her grandson tightly to her. Her sobs and the phrase 'my sweet boy' were all that was heard throughout the cargo bay.

In that moment, Grant Ward, tough guy and super spy, turned into a sobbing little boy; holding tightly to his grandmother. For the first time since the team had met him, he wasn't aware of anything going on around him, just his grandmother.

“Mom, go find rooms for the Agents that will be staying with you, I need to talk to my son,” Travis said.

“Remember what I said to you, Travis Daniel. I will spank you if you do anything to chase my Grandson away again. Millicent is not allowed near him or I will slap her stupid,” Gram fiercely declared as she walked out of the cargo bay, Coulson and his team following her, leaving her son and Grandson standing there, both men tense as if preparing for a battle.

“Son...”

“Don't call me that,” Ward bit out harshly. “You lost that right the moment you let Mom and Christian leave me in juvy to rot!”

“Grant, Lou was on her way to get you out of there when you disappeared with that Hydra bastard!”

“Lou told me that Thomas was the one who was supposed to be taken by John Garrett, not me. That Thomas is his son, not yours? Is she wrong?”

“No. Your mom sold you to Hydra and stole Ward family money to do it,” Travis tensely explained. “She will be dealt with. Thomas is being kept out of it. He might not be my biological child but he is still my son and nothing will ever change that.”

“It wasn't a prize being your biological son,” Grant's voice dripped with disdain, only someone that truly knew him could hear the suppressed hurt and anger in his voice.

Skye, who didn't leave with the others, stood out of sight, her heart breaking for Grant as he argued with his father.

“We will talk about this later, Grant,” Travis said tiredly, the brief conversation with his long lost son taking it's toil on both of them. “It seems one of the young women on your team wasn't going to leave you alone with me.”

Skye stepped out from where she was hiding, facing father and son, in awe of how much Grant resembled his father. She could sense that Travis Ward wanted to say more to his son but time and too much pain and abuse from the past would not make it easy on either one of them.

“Skye, I thought you were with us,” Jemma said, coming back onto the plane.

Travis took in how his son and Skye were looking at each other and had to fight not to grin before turning to face Jemma. His wife would hate this and the anticipation of her reaction to her son falling for someone like Skye, filled him sadistic glee. Millicent had been an albatross around his neck for years and anything that caused her distress, he would do everything to encourage.

“Agent Simmons, how about I show you to where the rest of your team is staying. I think my son and Skye need to talk.”

Travis quietly led her off the plane, thinking to himself.

'Millicent is going to lose her mind when she sees this!'

When Travis and Jemma left the plane and started walking over to join the others, he turned to face her with a mischievous grin on his handsome face. “Jemma, how about you tell me a bit about my daughter and her condition. Also, just how long my son has been in love with Skye?”

“Mr. Ward,” Jemma started to say before the older man with her interrupted what she was going to say.

“I was a horrible father to my younger four children, especially with Grant. I deserve his anger and every bit of his hatred but if there is something going on with my son and Agent Skye, I need to know. If I could tell that something was going on between them, my wife will see it and she will do something drastic to come between them. She will not accept her son, even if it is the one she threw away like he was garbage, being in a relationship with a woman of mixed race.”

“Lou warned us about her, Mr. Ward,” Jemma commented. “She has already came up with a plan to distract your wife.”

She then walked over to Fitz and got into one of the waiting SUV's with him and Trip, ignoring their curious looks.

“Where's Skye?”  
“With Ward on the Bus,” she commented, rolling her eyes at the thought of more Skye and Ward drama. “I found her in the cargo bay, it seems she didn't want to leave him alone with his father. Ward gets his observational skills from his father. Mr. Ward could tell there was something going on with him and Skye instantly and suggested we leave them alone to talk. That man sure hates his wife because it seems he is going to playing matchmaker with them just to tick Ward's mother off.”

Fitz and Trip rolled their eyes as well before the sight of the brick three story home Jemma and Fitz would be staying in came into view. They had all heard about Ward's family but when the evidence of just how wealthy the Ward family was right there on display in front of them, it was a bit overwhelming.

* * *

Rose Campbell stood near the helicopter pad where Lou had been taken to the hospital ten minutes ago as her husband, holding a four year old little boy in his arms, walked up to her. She smiled at Lincoln before taking Noah Jr. out of his father's arms.

Her beautiful little boy was a perfect mix of her and his father; Lincoln's features and blue eyes but her dark hair. Given the fact that Lincoln was over 6 foot tall, only an inch taller than Grant, and she was five ten, the same height as Lou, Noah was already taller than the average four year old.

“Mommy, will they let me go and see Aunt Lou?”

“As soon as we get her settled, me or your Daddy will take you to see her,” Rose said, exchanging a look with Lincoln, who nodded his head in confirmation of what she had just said.

“How about we walk with Mommy to her car so she can go and check on Aunt Lou. I told your Grandpa and Papa that I would bring you to them so you could meet your Uncle Grant,” Lincoln stated, taking Rose's hand in his as a sign of comfort as they walked back to the main house.

“Mommy, do you think he will like me?”

“Once he gets to know you, my love, your Uncle Grant will love you,” Rose said, tears filling her eyes at the thought of her twin being with them again.

* * *

Coulson glanced around the room that Melinda would be staying in, the antique queen sized bed and luxurious furnishings that occupied the room.

“Be careful, Melinda. Don't get pulled into this family's mind games.”

“I will, Phil. I agreed to this because after what Lou showed me, I need to make sure that none of the events of that vision happen. You weren't wrong about having reservations about them being on this mission and that Fitz, Simmons and Skye are not ready for this. But they, especially Fitz and Skye, are the only ones that Ward will trust to tell what he is thinking and feeling.”

“Fury has asked me to replace him as Director of Shield with Agent Hand as my Deputy. He wants you to be our Head of Security and Ward as Lead Agent. I have my doubts about that last appointment but Fury thinks he can do it, he has faith in him. Trip has agreed to handle both jobs while you and Ward are here and then he will take over as Skye's SO when all of you get back.”

“Why wasn't he named Lead Agent?”

“He doesn't want the job permanently. He agrees with Fury that given Ward's familiarity with Hydra, he is the best one for the job but like I said, has agreed to take the job while both you and Ward are on this mission.”

“Phil, be prepared to be called into help because I have a bad feeling that Millicent Ward will not be as easily dealt with as Sam thinks.”

“Fury has a backup plan in place especially given who Ward's grandmother is related to.”

“Who is she related to?”

It takes a lot to surprise Melinda May but when Coulson tells her who he is talking about, her mouth drops open in shock.

“Are you prepared for the consequences if he has to call this person in to help?”

“That is why I am going to be at our new base and not here with the rest of you.”

Melinda rolled her eyes at him as she continued to unpack her clothes and other items she would need.

* * *

Fitz walked down the curving staircase and into the main foyer of the Ward family home to the sight of an older African American woman in her early sixties getting ready to go up the stairs. The smile on her round face gave him a sense of comfort and home.

“I'm the housekeeper, Mrs. Hamilton. Mrs. Ward thought all of you from Shield would need a decent breakfast. She had the cook, Ms. Parker set it up in the guest dining room, it is to the right. Go through the guest lounge and into the double doors.”

“Yes ma'am,” Fitz politely replied before walking towards the lounge.

He stepped into the dining room to the sight of Gramzy talking to an older woman with short blond hair and a thin frame, a look of stern warning in her eyes.

“I know Christian is your favorite, Marie but the blame for everything that happened is on my daughter-in-law and not Grant, who was a little boy at the time. If you say one hateful thing to him, I don't give a damn that Kyle has worked for this family for twenty five years , I will fire you so fast your head will spin. If he chooses to go with you, that is on him.”

“Francesca, he was a disrespectful little demon that needed to be sent away. He deserved everything he got from Millicent and more.”

“Marie, if I ever find out that you played any kind of active role in what was done to my grandson, you will wish to God you had never been born by the time I am done with you,” Gramzy said through gritted teeth.

The other woman walked out of the room, never noticing that Fitz had seen and heard the entire conversation. He could see Ward's Grandmother clench her fists as if she was fighting not to go after Marie and punch her.

“Leopold, make sure you tell Agent May about the conversation you just overheard so that both of those traitorous bitches gets what's coming to them,” Gramzy stated firmly.

“Who is she?”

“Marie Taylor, our gardener and the wife of our butler, Kyle. She is friends with my daughter-in-law and even though we have never been able to prove it or get Kyle to believe it, a Hydra Agent. Make sure she isn't listening to any conversation you and your fellow agents are having. We have had to soundproof a lot of these rooms to keep her from hearing something she shouldn't and calling Millicent to tell her what is going on.”

“Is that why she was here with you and not outside tending the grounds?”

Fitz smiled at the mischievous grin appear on the older lady's face at his question.

“I had to make sure she wasn't outside to see what we didn't want her to see and or my duplicitous daughter-in-law would find out things that are happening in this house that isn't any of her business.”

* * *

Simmons stood by the back door with Trip, May and Coulson as an ambulance pulled up. She stepped outside as the Paramedics got out and opened the back door, to the sight of Lou lying on the gurney.

“Thank you for going along with my plan to let my stepmother think I had been admitted to the hospital. I need to be here and thankfully my family has the money to afford for me to be treated here instead of the hospital.”

“It is also a lot safer to have you here because I wouldn't put it past her to send a team of Agents to your room to try and kill you,” Noah Ward commented as he walked over to the ambulance. “Your grandmother is doing her part to make sure Millicent doesn't find out until it is too late for her to do anything about it.

Lou's gurney is rolled out of the ambulance and into the house by Trip and Coulson, under Jemma's supervision. The paramedics quickly got back into the ambulance and left the estate, right as Marie Taylor left the house, unaware of what had just happened.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The next chapter will be focused more Skye and Ward than any of the others. I will also get more into some things that happened in Ward's past as this story goes on.
> 
> My characterization of Gramzy in this story is based a lot on my late Grandmother. She was a feisty Southern Lady who didn't put up with any crap and told people how it was. I will never forget the Thanksgiving before she passed away when I found out that 44 wasn't too old to get in trouble for cussing in your Grandmother's kitchen. I never thought I could miss someone as much as I miss my Mamaw. It will be two years in January since she died and it still brings me to tears to think about her.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There is a major Skyeward moment in the beginning of this chapter that will start the moment they were left alone on the Bus in the previous chapter. I know I want to take it slow with them but want there to still be moments with them.

Silence filled the cargo bay as Travis Ward led Jemma off of the Bus. Skye watched Grant, reluctant to move any closer to him, once again torn about how to react towards him. A part of her wanted to hug him after that tense conversation he had just had with his father but she was still furious at the things he had done.

“Don't be fooled by his loving father act, Skye. He does that when other people are watching or Lou is around. He couldn't care less about me. He never has,” Ward muttered quietly.

He had his hardened Agent Ward mask on in that moment and Skye realized something. He hadn't been completely playing a role when they were on the Bus together. This was Grant Ward when all of his defenses were up as a means of protection.

“That may be the case, Ward but from what I just saw, your grandmother and sisters are prepared to fight for you.”

“I know. The three of them, my grandfather and Thomas are the only reason I am here,” Ward commented. “There is a reason that Lou lived with our grandparents and not with the rest of us even though she was always my Father's favorite.”

“Why?”

“My mother knew Lou wouldn't let her get away with her mind games. It wasn't long after Rose and I were born that her powers started to become active and she would have used them on Mother to stop her from playing mind games with the rest of us.”

“Why would your father let her keep him away from one of his children?”

“My Father would rather let my mother have her way as opposed to dealing with her and Gramzy wanted Lou with her. It was easier when it came to learning to control her powers. Besides one attempt had been made on my sister's life and it killed my Aunt Lily in the process. I don't think he wanted Lou around my mother before her powers could develop and get stronger. ”

“I have never heard you talk about your Aunt Lily before.”

“I never got to meet her, she died when Christian was a baby. If she had been around, a lot of things would have been different. Lou's theory is that Hydra was trying to kill my grandparents, Lou and Lily. She also thinks our Great-Aunt Abigail, my grandfather's older sister died not long after that accident because of Hydra. They didn't want anything to interfere with whatever they had planned for our family.”

“How did Lou learn to control her powers if the two people who could help her with them died?”

“I had heard that an old friend of my grandmother's helped Lou control her powers. Although I don't know if I agree with Lou that it was Hydra that was responsible for what happened to Aunt Lily and Great-Aunt Abigail. They are more the type to experiment on people with powers before they would kill them. I think it was my mother and her fear of the curse on my family.”

“Didn't she know about the curse before she married your father? Why didn't she refuse the mission Hydra gave her?”

“She knew about the curse but Hydra agents don't refuse to take an order or an assignment. If they do, they pay for it with their lives. It wouldn't surprise me if it came out that Hydra had something to do with Lou's mom dying. That I could see them doing if it helped get her out of the way so my mother could seduce my father.”

Skye watched and listened as he described being a Hydra agent to her and could see him clenching his fists in anger. She didn't know how Grant would respond to her next question but had to ask it anyway.

“How many horrible things did you have to do to maintain your cover?”

Grant sat down on one of the crates in the room, trying to figure out how to answer her question without sounding like a complete mental case. It was only with the therapy sessions that Fury and Lou had made him go to that kept him from going crazy during his mission.

“Romanov talks about how she has blood on her hands from the things she did before and after she became a Shield agent and she isn't wrong about that, Skye. Despite what some agents think and tell you, doing things for the Greater Good doesn't excuse the fact that sometimes we have to do some awful things to accomplish it. I have seen and heard of times where fellow Shield agents had to be left to their own fate for the sake of the mission and experienced them as well,” Ward bluntly stated. “Sometimes it isn't all good versus evil, sometimes you have to make a deal with bad guys and not arrest them or put a bullet in their head because if you do, it could hurt the mission and what you are trying to accomplish. Sometimes you have to be the villain for another person to complete your mission.”

“When you told me that it was 'nothing personal' on the plane, I was so furious with you. It felt pretty damn personal to me.” Skye commented, going to sit beside him.

“You're not wrong. I don't blame you for headbutting me when you thought I was a traitor, you have every right to be angry at me. I could have very well been a traitor especially if Lou hadn't of stepped in with me when she did. I would have given into to what Garrett wanted because I was so broken down by that point by my mother and Christian, I would have turned against everything my grandmother had taught me to please him.”

“Only to find out he was working with your mother the entire time and that it was your younger brother that was supposed to be treated like that.”

“Skye, I wouldn't have wanted Thomas to ever experience what I did in those woods and thanks to Lou, I had a real shelter over my head with a warm bed to sleep in and food to eat. I wasn't completely alone out there. When Lou wasn't there to check on me, I had Buddy.”

“Who's Buddy?”

The sound of a dog barking made Grant and Skye turn to face the exit of the Bus. The sight of a dark haired man a few years younger than Ward and around the same height and build came up the ramp, an aging chocolate brown Labrador on a leash leading him up there.

“Buddy?”

Ward's eyes filled with tears at the sight of his dog and had a strong feeling Lou was responsible for him still being alive.

At the sound of his's voice the dog, despite his age, quickly went over to him and begged him for attention.

Tears filled Skye's eyes at the sweet reunion between Grant and his dog. She saw the man who had brought Buddy on the Bus, standing with them was also emotional at the reunion taking place in front of them.

“Lou called me last night and told me to bring Buddy here. She said you needed to see him, big brother,” Thomas quietly stated. “She also told me the truth on a lot of things she felt I needed to know. I know that it was supposed to me and not you that ended up being taken by Hydra.”

“Thomas...”

“Let me finish what I was going to say, Grant. I also have a secret that I haven't told anybody else but Lou about. I'm engaged to be married and it is to someone you know.”

Thomas left the plane long enough to come back holding the hand of a young woman in her mid thirties. She was of Hispanic descent and around the same height as Skye, with long dark hair, dark eyes and olive skin.

“Kara?”

The woman grinned at Grant before walking over to hug him.

Skye quickly figured out what was going on and started to laugh hysterically almost to the point she couldn't breathe.

“I am never going to get on your sister's bad side, Grant,” Skye stated, as soon as she calmed down enough to be able to talk.

Thomas smiled at Skye before turning to face Grant who was staring at Skye in confusion.

“Lou told Skye and Agent May last night that she was going to have Nick Fury bring Kara in for this mission to seduce me and distract mother from playing her mind games with you and the rest of your team. She already knew about me and Kara and knew we were just about ready to tell the rest of our family about our engagement.”

“It also helps that Thomas can help us with our mission against Hydra,” Kara replied.

“Why?”

Grant grinned and turned to face Skye, who was now the one confused about what was going on.

“My baby brother is an FBI agent. He has the training to help us and it won't look suspicious to anybody else that he is here.”

“Mother deserves what she gets and more,” Thomas said harshly. “The time for her to be dealt with is long overdue.”

“Agreed,” Ward replied as he took Buddy's leash and all of them left the plane to make their way to the house, where their mission would begin.

Thomas led the four of them over to his 2014 Escalade and got into the driver seat while Kara and Skye got in the back with Buddy sitting in between them. The dog seemed to have taken to Skye and had laid his head in her lap, while lapping up all of the attention the two women were paying to him.

Grant grinned at his dog and his antics before getting into the passenger seat and closing the door to the SUV.

“We are going to the main house where Grandfather, Father and Noah will be waiting for us,” Thomas explained.

“I'm not very good with kids, Tommy,” Grant admitted to his younger brother.

“Big brother, our nephew is a wonderful little boy. He is a lot like Rose but looks like his father except his hair color. It will easy for you to fall in love with him, he is a joy to be around.”

* * *

Lou watched as Trip and Coulson left her bedroom to go back to the Bus, it was time for them to meet Fury and Victoria Hand at their new base: The Playground. The latter two had been taken there on a quinjet not long after they had arrived in Salem.

She winced and had to fight not to move her hand as Jemma placed the needle in her arm for a new IV. The other one had blown in the ambulance on the way back to the mansion. The burning pain wasn't her favorite feeling in the world. Although not as bad as an epidural had been when she had her daughters.

“That is the one thing I am not looking forward to when I start cancer treatments,” she commented as Jemma finished placing clear medical tape to hold the tube in place.

“Lou, your oncologist will most and likely want to insert a central line when you start your treatments. The main reason that you collapsed while fighting with Agent May was that you were dehydrated, it was only your powers that were keeping you going. Rose told me to keep you on IV fluids for now and to make sure you had proper meals,” Jemma explained to the older woman.

“How about you go and see if her breakfast tray is ready, Agent Simmons,” May stated.”

“Of course.”

Jemma got up from the chair she had been sitting on and left the room, closing the door gently behind her.

“I have a feeling my grandparents and Father are going to lecture until the end of time for not taking care of myself. I had to get there in time to stop Grant from dropping the med pod. That sweet and compassionate young woman who just left this room would have been forever changed if I hadn't of used my power to keep it from sinking. I wasn't thinking about myself in that moment. Grant, Leo and Jemma would have never been the same if I hadn't of been there.”

“I'm curious about something. You were handling yourself pretty well in that fight with me despite being in a weakened state. Would I last in a fight with you at full strength?"

“After the accident that killed my Aunt Lily, my grandparents and father put me in martial arts classes to learn to protect myself so I wouldn't have to depend on my powers for everything.” Lou explained. “The woman my grandmother brought in to train me to control my powers also told me that my powers enhance my fighting skills. I have also discovered that over thirty years of training has also helped me in the rare times I have had to physically fight someone. I need to tell you something but it has to stay between you and me until the time is right for the others to find out about it.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologize that I haven't updated in a few weeks. I work in retail as a Cashier and the weeks going into Thanksgiving were very busy. This is the first time I have had a chance or the inspiration to sit and work a bit on this chapter.


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologize for not updating in the last four months. I had lost my interest in this story after a lack of comments on it until I received one yesterday when I came home from work that made me decide to post this chapter. 
> 
> The last month or so, I have been very busy at work because I am a cashier at a grocery story, one of the businesses not being shut down because of the Corona Virus. I hope all of you are staying safe and being careful.
> 
> In this chapter is the first appearance of Senator Christian Ward and Ward's mother who, as hinted in previous chapters, is a nasty piece of work.
> 
> I have two more chapters wrote out but am considering making changes to the latter of them. Not liking the direction I took with that chapter in regards to storyline or wanting to find a more dramatic way to reveal it.

Skye was gently petting Buddy when the sight of the three story brick mansion came into view. She had heard that Ward had come from a wealthy family, to see it was another thing entirely. It scared her a bit. What if the initial reveal of him being Hydra hadn't of happened? What if they had continued on the path of seeing what would come of the feelings they'd had for each other? Would his parents or grandparents, despite the estrangement between them, have accepted him being involved in a relationship with an orphan who didn't even know who her family was?

In the space of a year, she had went from living in her van to living on a plane and becoming a Shield Agent. Now she was going to temporarily live in a mansion for a mission, with all of the Ward family drama mixed in for good measure.

Thomas pulled up to the front of the house, where Travis was waiting with an elderly gentleman that also resembled Grant. Given the look of affection on Ward's face when he saw the older man, Skye figured out pretty quickly that her SO had more love and respect for his Grandfather than his Father.

He was holding the hand of a little boy that looked to be about four years old. He had dark hair and blue eyes and Thomas seemed to know who he was.

“Time to meet your nephew, big brother.”

Skye looked closely at the little boy and could see his resemblance to Rose. She could see how happy Thomas was to see him and had a feeling she was getting ready to see how her SO handled a young child. She knew he could put up a wall rather quickly with their fellow agents but she had never seen him with children.

As soon as the car stopped and Thomas turned off the engine, he got out and it wasn't long after a childish shriek of delight filled the air.

“Uncle Thomas!”

Thomas caught the little boy who had jumped into his arms and hugged him tightly.

“Noah James, there is someone I want you to meet. Remember how your Mommy told you about her twin brother, Grant?”

“Yep, she said he was a Spy, you think he would show me his gun. That'd be cool!”

“No,” Thomas exclaimed. “The same rules apply to Uncle Grant and his job the same way it does with mine, guns are not toys to be played with. Do you understand me, Noah James?”

“Yes sir,” Noah said softly.

Thomas motioned for Grant, who was reluctant to get out of the SUV.

“Ward, are you okay?”

“I have never been good with children, Skye.”

“Nobody is saying you have to start out reading him stories and hanging out with him right away. Just get to know him and let him get to know you,” she gently commented. “Don't pull that uptight Agent Ward routine on him.”

Kara giggled at her comment before she got out of the car, grabbed Buddy's leash and helped the dog out of the SUV. She joined Thomas and Noah, who had been sat down on the ground and was petting Buddy.

Skye got out of the car and walked over to the open window where Grant was still sitting, frozen in place and staring at Thomas and Noah.

“I'll be with you the entire time, Grant. Just come out and say hello to your nephew besides I wouldn't put it past May to come out here and order you to get out of the car,” she said with a mischievous grin.

Before Ward could respond, his grandfather had walked over to the SUV and stood beside Skye, leaning down to talk quietly to his grandson.

“Are you going to get out of that car and give your grandfather a hug, son?

Ward opened the car door and stepped out, accepting his grandfather's embrace, tears filling his eyes. Like his grandmother, his grandfather had been a comforting presence that had made things easier to deal with. He slowly pulled away from his grandfather and walked over to where Noah was still petting Buddy.

“Noah, this is your Uncle Grant,” Thomas quietly said. “We have been taking care of Buddy for him.

“Hi, Uncle Grant,” Noah shyly said.

“Hello Noah.”

Thomas took Kara's hand and looked at his young nephew, grandfather and father.

“There is someone I want all of you to meet, this is Kara. She's my fiancee.”

“What's that mean, Uncle Thomas?”

“Kara and I are getting married.”

Grant and Skye looked over at Travis and watched as several different emotions went across the older man's face before a smile appeared on his face. The latter could tell by the brothers reactions to it, this wasn't a happy type of smile but one where he anticipated the pain he was about to cause

“Son, may I personally tell your mother your happy news?”

Thomas and Grant glanced at each other before Thomas responded to his father's question.

“Father, you starting a battle with Mother is the last thing we all need right now.”

“She deserves this and so much more. She has made my life a living hell for the last forty years, it's time I get some payback for it.”

“We will discuss this some more when Noah James isn't listening to every word we say and could repeat it to everybody on the estate before the end of the day,” Ward's Grandfather Noah said sternly.

Thomas proceeded to take Kara's hand in his while picking up Noah James with the other arm.

The three of them went into the house, leaving Skye and Grant, Buddy sitting at his side, outside with Travis and Noah.

“Father, now isn't the time for you and mother to start a war with each other.”

“If your sister is right, she helped Hydra take my Samantha from me! If that is true, she will pay!”

Travis stormed into the house, the front door slamming behind him, his father following him.

'He really loved Lou's mother didn't he?”

Grant turned to look at Skye, who was still staring at the front door.

“Yes and when my parents have one of their battles, they can be downright vicious with each other. Then mother would take her anger out at father onto me, Rose and Christian.”

“Ward, it is a miracle you and your siblings survived this,” Skye muttered quietly.

“Skye, I ended up in juvy for setting the damn house on fire,” Grant replied back. “I could have spent the rest of my life in prison or brainwashed by John Garrett if Lou hadn't of stepped in and helped me.”

“Do you think your grandfather will have any luck in stopping him?”

“No. He will encourage the battle. He hates my mother and loved Lou's mother like she had been his own child. He will want revenge on her just as much as Father will. In fact, Mother isn't allowed on this estate because of the things she did to me and my siblings when we were growing up. The only reason my grandparents couldn't get custody of us was because Mother and Hydra had family court judges on their payroll to prevent that from happening. To make things worse, it was always one's that had an axe to grind with my Grandfather, so they didn't care about the pain their greed caused.

There was nothing Skye could say in response to that as they made their way into the house and she followed Grant into the main dining room where their team had assembled. They each took a seat on either side of Fitz and Simmons, the two Scientists wondering just what had happened to cause the tension they could sense between Skye and Ward.

* * *

The water in the swimming pool rippled as an older man in his late 30's swam laps across it, ignoring his mother glaring at him. Her manicured nails tapped out an impatient rhythm on the shiny glass surface of the table, ready to walk over and snatch her son out of the pool by his hair if she had to.

“Anna, get your husband out of that pool right now or so help me, I will make a scene that will make the ones I had when he was a child look tame in comparison,” Millicent Ward bit out, the arrogance in her voice made her daughter-in-law want to slap her.

“Of course, Mother Ward,” Anna said, her teeth clenched to prevent her saying something that would only tick her mother-in-law even more than she was.

Anna pushed back the rattan lounge she was sitting in beside her mother-in-law and stood up to walk over to her husband, muttering under her breath as she went.

By the time she got over there, Christian was climbing out of the pool and starting towards the towel he had laid on one of the lounge chairs.

“Your mother is an imperious old battle axe,” Anna whispered harshly.

“Let me deal with her, go make sure Jason and Jordan are ready for school,” he said quietly, kissing her on the cheek.

He watched the slender frame of his elegantly dressed wife walk towards his house for a moment, her blond hair pulled into a ponytail before walking towards the table his mother was sitting at.

“It's about time you got out of that stupid swimming pool. We need to talk about the fact the demon spawn is coming back here. I refuse to allow Lou to bring him back into this family.”

Millicent Ward was so wrapped up in ranting that she failed to notice her son rolling his eyes. He quickly had to school his features before sitting down in the chair his wife had been sitting in.

“Mother, you like to forget that you aren't the head of this family, Grandfather is. He wants Grant back here with the rest of us and there isn't a thing we can do about it.”

“I wish he and your grandmother would just go on ahead and die and leave me to clean out the trash he has allowed to infest our family.”

Christian didn't say a word to his mother just let her spew her usual racist nonsense at him.

“You should have been allowed to be there when Lou was brought to your grandparents. You are her brother and it will look very badly to the press if it comes out that a US Senator was ordered to stay away from being there for his older sister in her time of need.”

“Mother, Lou thought it was best that I stay away given how rocky my past with Grant has been. She implied that if I did anything to mess up their little family reunion in Salem, the times she has kicked or hit me in the balls would be tame compared to what she did to me. I got the impression that she would use her powers on me for the first time ever,” he stated, trying to calm his mother.

It had the opposite effect on Millicent. Her fists slammed down hard on the table and her blue eyes went quickly went from a cold anger to a red hot one.

“That little bitch and her powers! I have hated her from the first moment I met her when I started dating your father. I thought marrying into the Ward family would bring me everything I have ever wanted and all it got me was a husband who can barely touch me, unless he is drunk as a skunk, a stepdaughter he loves more than his wife and three out of four of my own children that hate my guts. Thomas is the only one of you that is worth anything!”

Christian watched as his mother got up and stormed into the house, before he gave into the emotions she always stirred in him when she got like this. He slammed his fist down on the table, hard enough to crack the glass.

He grabbed his cellphone out of it's waterproof case attached to his upper arm and dialed the one person who hadn't allowed him to play his mind games and called him on his crap. The one person in his family he could say he loved and knew loved him despite how he had acted in the past.

“What's wrong?”

He laid his head on the table and let his sister's voice calm him down.

“She is so pissed off at Grant being back and is in her “Queen of the Manor” mode. She is also wishing our grandparents were dead so she could finally be the head of the family. This needs to end soon, Lou.”

“Stay calm and distract her by thinking you are still on her side. It will all be over soon and then we can get this family to the way it should have been all along.”

“Why didn't you tell any of us you had been diagnosed with breast cancer?”

“I knew all of you, along with Grant and Nick Fury would stop me and I couldn't let that happen yet. Now I can start my treatments and pray and hope that it isn't too late.”

“It better not be or little brother is going to wish he had never been born,” Christian muttered angrily.

“Christian Jonah Ward! You and Grant will both act like you got some sense or so help me, you will wish you had! Besides he has over thirty years of anger towards you and is a fully trained Shield agent, in fact one of the best. Some of the rumors going around Shield are comparing him to Black Widow, little brother. You start it, he will finish it. I would think about that if I were you.”

“Lou...”

“He didn't know and he is just as angry about me not telling him as you are. Try to tolerate being around him, for me. I love you both and I am not choosing between my younger brothers. I might not be able to physically smack you both right now but trust me, there is someone with us from Grant's team who will knock both your heads together if you start fighting. That's nothing to say about what Gram will do to you. She told father today that she would put him across her knee and spank him if he did anything to chase Grant away again.”

Christian smiled widely at the thought of his elderly grandmother spanking his father because at almost seventy years old, Travis Ward was still at least six foot tall.

“I can see Gram doing that because she blistered my hide quite a few times when I went too far with Grant and Thomas.”

“You might want to watch out for Rose, little brother. She will not let you hurt Grant or Thomas and will be watching you like a hawk or have Lincoln do it for her when she isn't around.”

Christian rolled his eyes at the thought of his younger sister's husband, one she had met during college at Ohio State before they both went to Johns Hopkins Medical School. Now they both worked at Mass Gen, his sister as a trauma surgeon and Lincoln, an attending in the ER.

His mother had been furious at her youngest daughter eloping with Lincoln because to Millicent it was just as bad to be poor as it was to be a minority. His mother was a major piece of work and it was only his sister that had kept him from being just as bad as she was.

“I will behave and only respond if he starts something with me.”

“Yeah right,” Lou commented sarcastically. “Try that nonsense with Anna or your mistress because unlike them, I truly know you, Christian. You can't help yourself when it comes to Grant, you have to be a manipulative little shit that tries to play mind games with him.”

Christian saw his mother coming back outside, storming down the yard and looking ready to do battle.

“I got to go, she's heading this way and she doesn't look happy.”

He heard Lou giggle and knew that whatever had ticked his mother off, his sister had something to do with it.

“What did you do?”

“Just gave the old stepbitch a huge distraction that will guarantee she will leave Grant alone. Call me back later when you get the chance and I will explain what is going on and not her messed up version she will tell you.”

Christian quickly hung up his phone and sat it on the table as his mother stopped in front of him looking mad enough to breathe literal fire.

“I just got off the phone with your father and guess who is up there in Salem with your grandparents and has brought his little Mexican tart of a fiance with him,” Millicent ranted. “I will not have it! My Thomas is not marrying a little gold digging little bitch.”

Christian could see his wife and sons watching his mother's fit and could see the smirk Anna was fighting to hide before his forehead hit the surface of the glass table.

_ **'You owe me big, Samantha Louisa for having to deal with mother and her racist crap!'** _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Like I said in the beginning note, Ward's mother, at least in this story, is a very hateful woman. I am still trying to figure out which of her children besides Christian has to deal with her next. I know there needs to be a confrontation between her and Grant but can't decide if that will be the next one or save him for last. I am already thinking about how I want the next time she and Lou come face to face to happen.


	10. Chapter 10

After getting settled into his old bedroom, his old twin size bed from the last time he had stayed with his grandparents having been replaced with a California King in the years he had been gone, Grant walked down towards the stables. He had left Buddy up at the house with Skye, Jemma and Fitz, who had all taken to the dog. Despite the spell cast on him by Lou to keep him alive, his dog was fifteen years old now. It wouldn't be long before he really had to say goodbye to him.

As he stepped into the stables, tears filled his eyes as he came across a black stallion that reminded him of Wildfire, a stallion his Grandfather had bought for him a year before he had been sent to military school.

“He's Wildfire's grandson, Mr. Grant. Louisa named him Hellfire. Drove your Father crazy when she did it.”

Grant turned around and saw Mr. Jackson, an African American man around the same age as Grant's father, standing in the doorway of the stables. He had been running the stables since Grant had been a little boy, it showed how much loyalty the people who worked for his Grandfather had towards him.

“Louisa told me that he was to be taken care of for you. He's yours, son.”

Grant felt a nudge to his shoulder and looked over to see the stallion close by.

“You, Rose and Lou are the only ones he allows to touch him.”

“We will come out in the morning and ride, see if you still got what it takes,” Rose said with a huge grin on her face as she stood in the doorway beside Mr. Jackson.

“I met your son today.”

Mr. Jackson walked out of the stables as Rose walked over to where Grant was standing and started to gently pet Wildfire.

“Noah is my angel, I have never treated him the way our mother did toward us and I never will. He and his father are my world,” Rose said, with a soft smile on her face.

“Does he ever spend time with Mother alone?”

“No and that will never happen. Lou, Thomas and I refuse to let the latest generation of this family ever experience the abuse we did. Even Christian knows better than to try that with his sons.”

“How is Father with him?”

“Daddy loves Noah, Jason and Jordan very much but Allison and Ari are his favorites because they are Lou's children.”

“He found out about Kara and Thomas and called Mother to tell her so he can start another battle with her. Skye told me that we were lucky to survive our childhood when she saw him take pleasure in causing Mother pain.”

“Like she didn't ever take a sick pleasure out of causing all of us pain,” Rose said.

“Rose, if Lou wasn't sick, I wouldn't have come back here. I would rather deal with Shield and Hydra's bullshit than more of this family's drama.”

Unknown to the both of them, Marie Taylor and a petite young woman with long dark hair and olive skin were standing out of sight trying to listen to Rose and Grant's conversation. All they could hear was a buzzing noise instead of the conversation they should have been able to hear.

“Damn her! The little witch knows about Hydra spies on this estate and has a spell up to keep us from hearing what they are saying,” Marie said through gritted teeth before turning to the young woman with her. “Get close to Grant Ward, Amy. Actually do your job instead of screwing around with Christian Ward. He is never going to leave his wife for you.”

Amy studied Grant Ward and had to fight not to smirk. She had been waiting for the right weapon to use to make Christian jealous, why not flirt with his handsome younger brother and cause even more trouble between the brothers as an added bonus.

* * *

Skye was walking down the stairs and into the guest lounge with Buddy slowly coming down beside her when she saw Noah James with a tall blond haired man with an lean but athletic figure and blue eyes.

“You were with my Uncle Grant.”

“Yes, I was. My name is Skye.”

“Hi, Skye. You're pretty,” Noah James said with a mischievous grin. “Isn't she, Daddy?”

Lincoln Campbell grinned at his son, who had walked over to pet Buddy.

“Hi, I'm Lincoln Campbell.”

“Skye,” she said, shaking his hand.

“Sorry about that. My son is like his mother, says whatever he is thinking at the time.”

“I thought that was one of the reasons you fell in love with me,” Rose said as she came in the door from the patio with Grant right behind her. “It's nice to meet you, Skye. I'm Rose Campbell. I apologize for not introducing myself on the plane.”

“That's okay. You were worried about Lou and hadn't seen Grant in years. You had other things on your mind.”

“That doesn't excuse bad manners. I will have to introduce myself to the rest of your team after I get back,” Rose said before turning to look at Grant. “Grant, this is my husband, Lincoln.”

Grant had felt a weird jealously fill him at seeing the handsome young doctor standing with Skye but then saw the adoring looks his sister and her husband had been giving each other. He was acting stupid, besides he and Skye weren't in a relationship and after everything that had happened, would never be in one. He didn't have the right to be jealous.

“I am going to check on Lou before I go back to the hospital for a few hours. Christian called and warned me that Mother is coming by there after lunch to talk to me.”

Rose, holding Noah in her arms, went up the stairs with Lincoln right behind her as Skye turned to face Grant.

“Lincoln seems like a nice guy,” Skye commented. “He and Rose couldn't take their eyes off each other the second they saw each other.”

“Rosie deserves it. Mother did everything she could to destroy her self-esteem when we were growing up. She was the only one of us besides Lou my father ever tried to protect from her.”

Before Skye could respond to that, Amy stepped into the room, holding bundles of flowers in her arms.

“I apologize for interrupting, Mrs. Taylor sent me in here to replace the fresh Bouquets Mrs. Ward prefers to have set up every morning.”

“Of course,” Grant said politely, trying to remember where he had seen her before.

“I'm sorry. My name is Amy Baxter, assistant to the Gardner, Mrs. Taylor and you are,” Amy said flirtatiously, directing her comment to Grant and purposely ignoring Skye.

“Grant Ward, Mrs. Ward's grandson. This is my friend, Skye. If you will excuse us. We have somewhere else to be right now,” he said bluntly before taking Skye's hand and leaving the room, not stopping until they were standing in the kitchen with his Grandmother and Ms. Parker, a short and full figured woman in her mid-fifties.

“Does Lou have silencing spells up in the house?”

“Yes, she does. She doesn't trust anybody that isn't family or anybody hired before your mother came into our lives.”

“Is she aware that Marie Taylor isn't the only Hydra spy working for this family? Amy Baxter is Hydra and is also Christian's mistress?”

“Yes, she is. She keeps her here for a reason.”

Grant left the room, letting the kitchen door slam behind him. Skye turned to face Gramsy and Ms. Parker, who were both grinning widely.

“The last time I saw him that angry was when the Berserker staff was affecting him,” Skye commented.

“Lou and Grant love each other very much but they each have a healthy dose of mine and Noah's tempers in them. They don't always get along but then again, I wanted to knock my cousin Howard's head off on quite a few occasions especially when he was being awful to Tony. But family is family. You love them but they still drive you crazy and can piss you off quicker than anybody else on the planet.”

“Are you talking about...”

“Yes, Skye. I was a Stark before I married Noah. Howard Stark and I are first Cousins.”

“Do you know Tony? Can you introduce me to him?”

Francesca grinned at the young woman in front of her having a fangirl moment.

“How about we talk about it over some cookies and milk? We just made some fresh Chocolate Chip this morning.”

Skye sat down at the table and soaked up every bit of attention that Gramsy gave her, wishing she'd had a Grandmother like her. Ward might have had an awful Mother but his Grandmother more than made up for it. He was very lucky to have her.

* * *

Grant walked up to the last door at the end of the hall on the third floor of the West Wing of his family's home, ignoring the pictures of his ancestors and current family members that filled the walls.

He knocked lightly on the door before walking in to find Lou, lying on the hospital bed that Rose had arranged to be placed in their sister's bedroom.

“Why do I have a feeling you want Father to bait Mother into a fight?”

Lou smiled wickedly as she thought about the chaos going on at Christian's house at that moment.

“If she is in the middle of a battle with Father and dealing with Thomas and his engagement to Kara, she will be too busy to start any trouble for you.”

Grant rolled his eyes before responding sarcastically.

“Oh please. You are having fun making her life a living hell.”

“Yes I am and don't act all innocent on me, Grant Douglas. You are enjoying every bit of this and the fact that Christian is having to deal with her nonsense only makes it more enjoyable to you.”

“How long do you think it will be before Mother and Hydra figure out that you are here and not a patient at Mass Gen?”

“I don't give a rip when she figures it out. She would be very stupid to come here or send anybody here to attack me or anybody else that is staying here.”

“What do you plan on doing about Amy Baxter? She just flirted with me downstairs and was downright rude to Skye while doing it.”

“It must be killing Marie Taylor not being able to overhear every conversation that happens in this house anymore. She is getting desperate if she is sending Amy to do her dirty work.”

“I'm not getting involved with Christian's mistress or being used by her to make him jealous. I wouldn't touch her if she was the last woman on the planet.”

Before Grant could respond the door opened to the Lou's room and Noah James ran in, jumping onto the bed with Lou, who hugged him tightly to her. Lincoln walked into behind him, looking sternly at his son.

“Noah James, what did I say before I brought you in here to see your Aunt Lou?”

“Not to run or jump on her. That she is sick,” Noah James said quietly, tears filling his blue eyes.

“Look at me, Noah,” Lou said gently to her nephew. “Your Daddy is right but I don't mind you coming in here to see me because seeing your sweet face makes my day a better one. I have missed you while I was gone.”

Grant felt the memories of being hugged like that by his older sister when he was a little boy about to overwhelm him. While things for the most part had been bad for him growing up, the only bright spots had been Lou and his Grandparents. He had known that they had loved him and it had made it easier to not let Garrett influence him.

“Aunt Lou, you made Mommy cry,” Noah James said, his lower lip trembling. “I heard her tell Daddy that you might die. Don't die and leave us, Aunt Lou.”

“Oh Noah,” Lou hugged him tightly to her, looking over his head to where Grant was standing. “I plan to fight as hard as I can to get better and stay here with the people I love.”

“Gramzy says 'put it in the Lord's hands and he will take care of it'.”

Grant rolled his eyes because he had learned early that the theory of prayer and faith taking care of every problem was bunch of nonsense until he glanced over at Lou and saw her glaring at him. It had also been a topic of disagreement for him and Lou. In her mind, the only way she had been able to deal with the curse was to maintain a strong faith in the Lord and the power of prayer.

“That's right, Noah. We just have to have faith that I will be okay. To 'Let Go and Let God'.”

Grant walked out of the room, closing the door behind him, stopping short at the sight of his father getting ready to walk into the room.

“I see you are finished telling Mother about Thomas and Kara.”

“Yes, I am,” Travis commented, ignoring the hateful tone of his son's voice. “One day, you will fall in love and I hope you never have to experience the pain of losing her.”

“I did almost lose someone I love, Father. I had to pretend to still be Garrett's faithful servant instead of doing what I really wanted to do; putting a bullet in between his eyes for daring to have Ian Quinn shoot Skye.” he said angrily. “I'm pretty sure Mother knew all about it and while I would love nothing more than to shoot her for that and everything else she has done, I'm not going to do it. Too many people need me right now so I don't have time for childish nonsense.”

Neither father or son saw the doorway beside Lou's was cracked open as Grant walked down towards the stairs to go to the main floor and Travis went into his daughter's room. Noah Ward stepped out into the hall and followed his grandson down the hall. He then proceeded down one of the many hidden passageways in the house to get to the guest lounge before Grant did.

Grant walked into the guest lounge and saw that Skye was sitting with Fitz and Simmons on one of the couches so he sat down in a Wingback Chair close to where Skye was sitting, waiting for May to go over everybody's assignments.

“Now that we have all settled in to our rooms here, we can get started. Despite our luxurious surroundings, this isn't a vacation, we have a job to do while we are staying here,” May said sternly. “Simmons, you are to assist Dr. Campbell and the rest of Lou's medical team in treating her. We don't know what the medicines she will be given to treat her cancer will do to her powers. Fitz, you are to help her as well as helping Agent Ward and Agent Palamas in keeping our weapons in top condition.”

“What will Coulson be doing while we are here,” Ward asked.

“He is on his way with Agent Hand and Agent Triplett to our new base called the Playground. Director Fury has stepped down and has appointed Coulson as the new Director of Shield with Victoria Hand as his deputy. Trip is acting as both Head of Security, with the Koenig brothers helping him, and Lead Agent until we are done with our mission here. When we get back, I will be taking over as Head of Security while Ward will be Lead Agent.”

Ward stared at her in shock, seeing the smile of approval on Kara's face as she sat beside Thomas on the love seat sitting perpendicular to end of the couch where Fitz was sitting. He then saw his beaming grandparents standing in the doorway, the pride in his grandfather's eyes was all he needed in that moment.

“What about Trip?”

“He is willing do both jobs temporarily until we are back but wants to just be a regular Agent when we get back to the Playground. He has agreed to become Skye's SO.”

“What about while we are on this mission,”Skye asked, curious as to who would be in charge of her training until they got to the Playground.

“Kara, with assistance from Ward, will be in charge of making sure you, Fitz and Simmons are properly trained. I heard about what happened on the Bus and with us at war with Hydra, all three of you will have to be trained in combat skills.”

“Set your alarms for five in the morning because by 5:30, I want to be down at the barn, where Thomas has a full gym set up,” Ward firmly told all three of his trainees. “He and Kara will most and likely be up already and down there training by then.”

“I will tell Ms. Parker to have a full breakfast ready by seven in the morning. Your father has to be back in Boston by ten for a meeting. I want all of my grandchildren in the family dining room for dinner at seven this evening, it's time for a family meeting. Am I understood,” Noah Ward stated, staring sternly at his grandsons. “Grant, bring Agent Skye with you, I would like to talk to her at dinner.”

Noah walked through the lounge and over into the family wing, while Gramzy looked at both Grant and Thomas.

“Your brother will be here tonight with his wife and sons. All three of you and your sisters will behave and act like you have some sense,” she said before walking into the kitchen to talk to the family cook.

Skye looked over and saw Fitz and Simmons fighting not to smile and rolled her eyes in irritation.

“It isn't that funny!”

“Yes it is,” Fitz said as he got up to walk out of the room. Simmons was right behind him and the laughter started as soon as they left the room.

“I could tell my grandfather you had a headache and couldn't be at dinner tonight,” Ward commented, trying to help and ease her embarrassment.

“Skye, a lot of the focus will most and likely be on me and Thomas, you should be okay,” Kara stated.

Thomas looked at his brother and fiancee like they had both lost their minds. He knew exactly what his grandfather was up to. He didn't say a word and walked into the kitchen to where his grandmother and Ms. Parker were talking about the menu for dinner that night.

“Gram, what is Grandpa up to? Why is he so eager to talk to Skye?”

“It seems he overheard a conversation between Grant and your dad. Your brother admitted that he was in love with Skye and your Grandpa wants to get to know her.”

Before Thomas could even say anything the kitchen door flew open and two young women in their early twenties came flying into the house. They were identical twins with long dark hair, brown eyes and slender frames. They were about five foot ten and resembled Lou in every way.

“Where is she?”

“Arianna, she is in her room. I'm sure she will glad to see you and Allison,” Gramzy said, hugging both young women gently.

Both Arianna and Allison kissed their great grandmother on the cheek before hugging their Uncle Thomas and running out of the room. They quickly ran through the guest lounge and up the stairs to the family wing, anxious to see their mother.

* * *

Lou was cuddling Noah James to her side and started to sing a song she had sung to him, Christian's sons Jason and Jordan and her own daughters since they were babies.

Her father and Lincoln had left the room a few minutes earlier to talk to Rose down in the former's study.

Right as she started to sing, Lou heard an urgent knock on her door and knew her babies were there.

“Come in, my angels,” she called out.

The door flew open as Arianna and Allison stepped into the room and over to their mother's bed.

“Ari! Ally!”

Both girls hugged a giggling Noah to them before all three of them surrounded Lou and hugged her.

“Why didn't you tell us you were sick, Mom,” Allison asked quietly, tears filling her brown eyes.

“I didn't want the two of you to worry about me.”

“Is it over? Is the man who took Uncle Grant finally in jail?”

“My part in this is over. No, he's not in jail but he will never hurt any of us again,” Lou firmly stated.

Allison and Arianna knew what their mother meant by that and why she didn't say it out loud.

“Aunt Lou, can we watch Mary Poppins?”

“I don't know, Noah. Can we?”

“May we watch Mary Poppins?”

“Yes, we can. How about you and Ally go put it into the DVD player for us?”

“Okay,” Noah Jr said excitedly as he jumped off the bed and took his cousin's hand as the two of them and Arianna walked over to the entertainment center that was along the wall facing the bed.

Lou picked up her cellphone that was laying on her bed table and sent a text before laying her phone back where it had been before.

It wasn't long after that the movie started and Lou was surrounded by her daughters and nephew, watching one of their favorite movies.

* * *

Grant watched them from the doorway and felt helpless in the fact that he was about to be with nieces and nephews he had never met before. He had never been good with dealing with young children and being around them, especially Noah James, scared him.

“You will be okay, son. I will be with you through all of this,” his grandfather stated calmly as he placed a comforting hand on Grant's shoulders. He ignored his son, who was glaring harshly at them from where he was standing in the hallway.

Travis would have to get over it, he had never been there for his children and it was his own fault that Rose, Grant and Thomas in particular had thought of their Grandfather as a father figure more than they did their own father. It was way past time for him to get his comeuppance for his own actions or lack of action in regards to how he treated his children, especially Grant.

“Now, why don't you tell me some more about Skye,”Noah commented with a mischievous grin.

“What are you up to?”

“Just making sure that she is the right person for you.”

“I'm the one that doesn't deserve her, Grandfather.”

“Don't let your grandmother hear you say that, son. How about you go with me down to the fishing pond and we talk some more about everything that has happened to you?”

Grant walked beside his Grandfather, soaking in the comfort of his presence, letting all of his worries go for awhile.

* * *

Robert Gonzalez sat at his desk in his office on the Iliad and read the text that he had just received.

'_Garret's dead. Grant is with me at our family estate in Salem. Call me nine o'clock tonight, my time. It's time for all of the Agents of Shield to come together to stop Hydra.'_

He read the message and turned to face the Agents standing around his desk. He glanced over at all of them, a stern look on his face.

“Agent McCall just let me know that John Garrett is dead and her brother's undercover mission in Hydra is over. I am calling her later tonight for more details about what is happening. She says it's time for all of us to come together to stop Hydra.”

“Does she know where Victoria is?”

“I will ask her for you, Agent Hartley,” Robert said.

“Does Grant Ward and Nick Fury know about her ties to us?”

“I don't know, Agent Morse. I will find out more when I talk to her tonight.”

Robert watched as his agents left his office before staring at the picture of his former partner that was sitting on his desk.

“I know I promised you that I would watch after your wife and daughters for you, Patrick but Louisa is asking too much of me this time.”


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I thought I was done with this chapter a month and a half ago but something kept me from posting it. I added more to the end of the chapter and introduced a canon character to this alternate world I have created.
> 
> I hated that nothing was ever done to Ian Quinn, that I have ever been made aware of, for almost killing Skye. This chapter deals with that and shows just how powerful Ward's Grandfather is in his own ways that have nothing to do with magic but wealth and political connections.

An hour later, Ward was sitting in a lounge chair by the fishing pond that was about a half mile from the main house. There was a paved road that had been put in since he had been gone. Although it didn't really surprise him that his ninety-six year old Grandfather now had to take a golf cart down to one of his favorite spots on the property.

“Try it, Leo. I'm here to help you.”

Grant smiled as he watched his grandfather teaching Fitz how to set up his own fishing pole. The young engineer seemed to soak up the attention Noah was giving him and was carefully listening to every word he said.

“Grandpa seems to have taken to Fitz, Grant,” Thomas quietly commented as he sat close by. He had just sat his own fishing rod into the holder by his chair, waiting for a bite.

“I think Fitz is getting attached to him too. He was raised by his mother until he was accepted into Shield Academy. From what he has told me, his father was an abusive sack of shit. A subject I think you and I both know all about, Thomas.”

“Ours wasn't abusive, he just wasn't there. He let Mother abuse the hell out of you and Christian and play her mind games,” Thomas stated firmly. “She never treated me like that and it pissed Christian off.”

“I didn't think you had realized her part in the whole thing.”

“I talked to Lou, she told me the truth about everything when I was fifteen years old. I know that I am not biologically a Ward but she made sure to tell me that none of that mattered to her. I am her brother in every way that truly counts and nothing would change that. I just fear the moment she and Mother see each other again.”

“I don't want to see Mother. I might strangle her before anybody can stop me and the same goes for Christian.”

“Grant Douglas, you let me handle your mother. Your brother might surprise you but I don't blame you for not trusting him. Be patient with me and your sister and let us handle things with your mother. That is also why Lou had Agent May bring a team here. Everybody here wants what is best for you and to stop Hydra from destroying everything they touch.”

“How did you find out Mother had ties to Hydra?”

“We had been suspicious of her since your Aunt Lily and Abby died. Last night she received a phone call that upset her and she got drunk to the point she confessed everything she had done to this family,” Noah said. “Rose and Lincoln were there and recorded it on his phone.”

“I want to see it,” Grant said, his fist clenched at his side.

“Not now, Grant. The only people who have seen it are me and your Grandmother and that is how it needs to stay,” Noah said sternly. “I don't want to hear about anybody harassing Lincoln about it. It was saved onto a flash drive and erased off of his phone. He and Rose are not going to talk about it until me and your Grandmother tell them to.”

Before anything else could be said about it, Fitz's fishing pole started to move and an air of excitement took over the young engineer as he tried to pull the line in. Only for him to be pulled into the water with a loud splash.

“Bloody hell!!!”

Noah Ward watched as his grandsons quickly moved to help Fitz, both of them fighting not to laugh.. He thought about the video Rose had taken the night before. He knew he was asking too much of her but this had to be done this way to keep his son from doing something stupid.

* * *

Travis was already an emotional wreck over his firstborn being diagnosed with breast cancer, finding out just how badly Millicent had deceived him would send him over the edge.

Travis stood in the doorway of the family room and watched as his daughter sat on the couch laughing as Ally and Noah played Mario Kart. Arianna was quietly sitting by her mother, watching her sister and cousin, only allowing a small smile to slip out every so often.

“I need to talk to you, Travis. Now,” Francesca Ward stated firmly as she walked into the study.

Travis followed his mother into the room and watched as she closed the door.

“I know you are angry at Millicent and you have every right to be. She stole Samantha from you and prevented the two of you from having a life together. You have to calm down and not do anything that will cause Lou to ignore the fact she is sick again, Travis.”

“No,” Travis said. “I can't lose my daughter to them too!”

The dignified grown man with children and grandchildren disappeared and he dissolved into tears, sobbing like a heartbroken little boy. His mother holding him the same way she had Grant that morning.

“I've got your back my darling boy, don't you ever forget that. Even when I am not here and the Good Lord takes me home, I will always be with you. Let me and your father help you, that is what we are here for,” Francesca softly said, holding her only son tightly to her. “I can't lose you the way I did your sister, Travis.”

Travis didn't say a word but knew he had to tell his father what he had suspected from the moment he had found out Millicent was Hydra. That she was the one responsible for Lily's death when Christian was a baby.

“I know she killed my Lily and I want her to pay for the things she has done just as badly as you do but I want her punishment to last for a long time. I want her to spend the rest of her time in this world, sitting in a jail cell. Not dead. That's too good for her,” Francesca said, a cold and harsh tone to her voice. “She will pay, my son, trust me. That bitch will pay.”

* * *

Rose stood at the nurse's station of the Surgical ICU going over some notes from one of her patient files that had been saved on her laptop, when the elevator in front of her opened.

She had fight not to roll her eyes at the sight of her mother coming off the elevator and walking towards her. Millicent Ward's tantrums and demands on her children had become old by the time Rose and Grant had been ten years old.

“We need to talk Rose Ellen, now!”

“Follow me to my office, Mother,” she said, not wanting to become a part of the hospital's rumor mill by having a loud argument with her mother in front of the nurse's station.

Rose shut her laptop down, thankful for all of the password protections she had put on it, and held onto it as she led her mother down the hall to her office.

As soon as the door had closed behind them, Millicent, her gray hair pulled up into an elegant twist instantly turned on her 'queen of the manor' routine.

“Why isn't your sister a patient here?”

“Lou wanted to be at home and steps were taken to make sure she got what she wanted. Why do you care?”

“Don't get sassy with me, Rose Ellen Ward!”

“It's Rose Ellen Campbell, Mother. It has been that way for the past six years. Then you wonder why I refuse to leave Noah James alone with you,” Rose snapped back at her.

“I couldn't care less about your little brat or Christian's children.”

Memories of last night and Millicent's little drunken rant went through Rose's mind and it was everything the young woman could do to remember everything she had ever learned about not letting on how she was feeling. It had been a useful skill in dealing with her mother.

“How does it feel, Mother?”

“What the hell are you talking about, Rose Ellen?”

“Living with the fact that the one child of yours that you actually ever cared about hasn't come to see you even once in last five years. He didn't rush over to your house to introduce you to Kara and it pisses you off so badly you can't stand it.”

“I didn't raise you to be vulgar like that young lady!”

“You didn't raise me at all, Mother. Daddy, Gram, Grandfather and Lou did. It also pisses you off that Grant is back and you can't do a thing to stop it.” she whispered tauntingly, as if daring her mother to respond.

Millicent walked out the door to Rose's office, slamming it behind her. Rose had to fight not to throw the ugly vase sitting on a table near her, it was one her mother had given her for her office, against the door. She closed her eyes and took a few calming breathes before sitting down in her desk chair with her head in her hands.

Thirty minutes later, Rose was driving her 2014 Honda Accord down the Salem Turnpike and crossing the last bridge closest to Rumney Marsh Salt Reservation, when a car coming from the opposite lane rammed into her and knocked her car off the bridge.

* * *

Lou woke up from a deep sleep and screamed out Rose's name loud enough to bring her family, Melinda, Jemma, Fitz, Skye and Kara rushing into her room.

“Send somebody down to the Marsh Reservation, Grandfather! Rose is hurt!”

Lincoln and Jemma both rushed over to Lou, taking her vitals and making sure she didn't pull her IV loose while Gramzy rushed over to calm a sobbing Arianna and Allison down.

Grant glanced over at the doorway and saw Noah James standing in the doorway, tears falling from his eyes and rolling down the four year old's cheeks.

“Mommy,” he whispered.

Lincoln glanced over at his son and felt torn between rushing to comfort his son or staying where he was with Lou because Dr. Simmons couldn't do this by herself.

“Stay with her, I've got him,” Grant said, his protective instincts overriding his nerves at dealing with a small child.

“Noah James, why don't you show me and Skye your toys while your daddy and Dr. Simmons take care of Aunt Lou?”

“Uncle Grant, I want my mommy!”

Grant picked his nephew up and carried him out of the room with Skye following right behind him. He went down the stairs to the second floor of the family wing and into the first door on the right. It had his nephew's name on it in red letters.

“I want my Mommy!”

The heartbreaking sobs from his young nephew made him put his focus on Noah James and off of his own fears at what had happened to his twin.

“Stay with Miss Skye, Noah James. I am going to find your Mommy for you.”

Grant placed the sobbing little boy into Skye's arms and felt her grab hold of his hand and stared into her dark eyes.

“I've got him, make sure Rose is okay.”

Before he could move, she pulled him to her and kissed him the same way she had during the battle at the Hub. It was everything he could not to get lost in the feeling of her lips on his but he reluctantly pulled away from her. It was the wrong time for this and everybody's emotions were too keyed up for anybody to be thinking clearly.

“Skye and Grant sitting in a tree k-i-s-s-i-n-g...”

He turned to face Kara and Thomas, who were grinning and to his disgust, Christian was standing with them. It was the first two that had started singing that childish chant.

“Cut it out, Thomas,” Christian said firmly. “Gram told me what Lou said about Rose when I got here, let's go and find her. I have a feeling I know where the accident happened on the Salem Turnpike.”

“How do we know you aren't helping Mother and spying on all of us,” Thomas shot back hatefully at his oldest brother.

Before Christian could respond, Grant stepped between his two brothers.

“Now's not the time for this. You better be right about where Rose is, Christian. Or I will kick your ass!”

The three brothers and Kara left the room, as a woman in her late thirties and two teenage boys stepped into the doorway.

“Anna Ward, I'm Christian's wife. These are our sons, Jason and Jordan.”

Skye held onto Noah James, who was still sobbing out that he wanted his Mommy.

“Agent Skye, Grant was my SO before I became an agent.”

“Noah James loves it when you read Green Eggs and Ham to him,” Anna commented softly.

“Thank you. Can one of you find it for me so I can read it to him.”

“I'll find it and read it to him,” Jordan, his dark hair and caramel colored eyes just like his Grandfather and Grant, showing he was a Ward while the youngest Jason was all Anna with blonde hair and blue eyes that were glistening with tears.

Skye handed Noah James to Jordan and watched as the teenager and his younger brother sat down on the bed, Noah cuddled into his chest.

Anna motioned for Skye to follow her out of the room and they went into the bedroom Christian and Anna stayed in when they were visiting.

“Lou has worked hard to make sure that her daughters and her nephews have learned to love and take care of each other as a family should. I haven't seen Grant since right before he got sent to Military school.” Anna quietly said. “My younger sister was in the same grade as him and Rose.”

“You know about the abuse that happened to them, don't you?”

Anna looked at Skye, her blue eyes filling with tears.

“My parents and the Ward's were friends and my mother and Millicent Ward arranged for me and Christian to get married as soon as I graduated college. I was from the 'right kind of family' for Millicent to approve of her marrying her oldest son. It was only because I fell in love with my husband that my parents allowed it to still happen when they found out what was going on in that house.”

“You are aware that there are Hydra spies on this estate?”

“Yes I am but I also know Lou. She has enough spells cast around this estate and other less magical methods to prevent anybody from hearing something they shouldn't. Do you mind if I give you some advice, Skye?”

Skye had a feeling she knew what Anna was going to say.

“Be careful with Grant, his mother put all of them through hell. Unless there is something about you that she can use for her own self-preservation, she will do anything to come between you, even with Kara and Thomas being engaged.”

* * *

Millicent Ward stood in the back of a room beside Sunil Bakshi and watched in disgust as Daniel Whitehall put another captured Shield Agent through the Faustus Method. She had never been a fan of brainwashing someone, despite her part in what had almost happened to her son because of John Garrett.

“I have sent a team to take care of your daughter, Millicent. This is a second chance we don't normally grant to our Agents. Now you are going to owe me and it all has to do with leaving your son alone and let nature take it's course with him and Agent Skye.”

“Why is my son getting involved with that mixed breed little orphan so important?”

A malicious smirk came over Daniel Whitehall's face that sent chills down Millicent's spine.

“Haven't you ever wondered why Christian and his wife had two sons and why the next generation witch hasn't been born yet? He isn't the one destined to father that child, Grant is and there is something about Agent Skye that will make that baby even more powerful than any of the previous witches of the Ward family curse. I intend for Hydra to have a say in that child's upbringing.”

“How do you plan on stopping my Stepdaughter from getting in your way?”

“She's going to to be too busy fighting for her life to do anything to stop us.”

Millicent fought not to roll her eyes, having a strong feeling that Daniel Whitehall's arrogance would be the end of him.

* * *

Cal Zabo, who was listening to their conversation over a listening device Raina had planted in the room, turned to face the young woman he had helped raise.

“He will not get his hands on any grandchild of mine, I'll kill him first.”

“Cal, Lou Ward won't let that happen. He underestimates just how powerful she is. She has her own reasons for wanting Hydra to be destroyed. She's the key to you and Jiaying reuniting with your daughter in a peaceful manner.”

“What kind of man is this Grant Ward?”

“That is for you to find out when the times comes but I have a gift for you. Lou helped me capture him and made sure he didn't escape from Cybertek.”

A trembling, bloody and beaten Ian Quinn was pulled into the room by several armed men.

“I was told by Noah Ward to bring him to you and let you deal with the man who almost killed Skye. The man who ordered him to do it is already dead, the woman who gave that man the order to do it will be dealt with, you get to deal with the man who pulled the trigger.”

Cal wanted nothing more than to rip Ian apart with his bare hands for daring to shoot his daughter but something told him to hold back.

“Is there any evidence that he did it?”

Raina showed Cal a file folder that Lou had given her on the Bus.

“Here's all of her medical records of the damage he caused and the surveillance video of him shooting her with every word said between them coming up loud and clear. He will go to prison for the rest of his life for attempted murder.”

“Turn him over to the proper authorities to make sure he stands trial for trying to kill my Daisy,” Cal said through gritted teeth. “I'm saving what I want to do to him for the man who hurt my wife and violated her.”

* * *

Kara pulled Thomas' SUV to the side of the road and before she could even move from the driver's side, all three Ward brothers jumped out of the vehicle and down to where a light blue 2014 Honda Accord laid on it's roof near the water's edge.

“Rose!”

All three men and Kara stopped short at the sight of Rose sitting on a tree stump, her dark hair hanging damply down her back. Her fists were clenched and her caramel eyes were filled with raw fury.

“Now I'm pissed!”

**Author's Note:**

> This is just a brief prologue that sets the story up. I have twelve chapters, including this one, written so far and have a plan to post a chapter a week unless real life or other issues come up to prevent that from happening.


End file.
